


An Altered Course

by Ajora Fravashi (ajora)



Series: Dragondance [1]
Category: Final Fantasy V
Genre: Accidental Incest, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Archive warning applies to canon deaths, F/F, Game novelization but expanded upon with Japanese guidebooks and cards, Pern-style dragon bonding, Self-Indulgent, Sibling Incest, Technically: alternative universe - everything is the same except this ship happens, no official localizations used here; this is all my own translation work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 47,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24332932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ajora/pseuds/Ajora%20Fravashi
Summary: The incarnations of the primordial spirits that created the world chose as their Light Warriors the following: an aimless vagabond, an amnesiac old man, a pretty princess with more courage than sense, and a foundling pirate. The world is doomed.
Relationships: Faris Scherwiz/Lenna Charlotte Tycoon
Series: Dragondance [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756744
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. The memory of long-vanished years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off: heed the tags. Don't like? Don't read. Use the back button. 
> 
> Yes yes, I know, many people do a game novelization at some point. However, this is a thoroughly self-indulgent and personal version, as it features my forever otp and is reliant on the following: my own translations of the game, books, and cards, with nods to Legend of the Crystals, DFFOO, WoFF, and other secondary sources. As I am most familiar with the Japanese original, my memory is going to slip a lot on the official English localizations--and no matter, really; the GBA localization adds jokes where there were none, and the PSX localization was just unfortunate all around. Also, this fic is informed by personal experience with being a butch/nonbinary lesbian, existing as part of many worlds and belonging to none (being not trans or cis enough/not disabled enough/not brown or white enough/etc), and my own relationship to my girlfriend being illegal not so long ago.
> 
> This is for my girlfriend and future wife, who knew me 20+ years before when I was obsessing over this game and still thought I was worth loving. Who put up with me inflicting an earlier version of this fic on her 20 years back and gets to put up with the non-heteronormative version being inflicted on her now. Love you, dear. We belong together. 
> 
> Final note: I was going to release this when I had a cover and more chapters and illustrations ready, and maybe some incidental music, but due to real life being terrible, I'm releasing it now. Illustrations will be added later.

Faris, captain of the _Maelstrom_ and tamer of the legendary demon dragon of the Great Inland Seas, glared at the slate and the precious few sheets of paper underneath it that mocked her with their blank faces. It was not that she had never written a ransom note before, but sending one to a king was far different from sending one to a minor merchant. A minor merchant didn't have the full force of an entire country's military at his beck and call. 

With a grunt of disgust at herself, she took the slab of chalk and tried again. 

_Vicinity of Tule, Tycoon  
2/21/815_  


_Your Royal Majesty;_

_I have your daughter. Should you wish to see her again, whole and unmolested, you will surrender 500,000 gil to my representative in Tule, along with a signed document declaring your intent to waive passage fee requirements for all smallships using the Torna Canal._

_Yours,_  
_Faris Scherwiz_  


Everything about it was terrible, right down to the way her uppercase _F_ always looked like a tilted _S_ with a line through it. She took a rag to wipe clean her slate for a listing of her problems to get her thoughts in order. At least she hadn't wasted good paper and ink on her attempts.

The first problem: Three idiots tried to hijack her flagship. In her own hideout, at that. She trussed them up and threw them in the quartermaster's cabin, which doubled as a holding cell.

The second problem: One of those idiots was the princess of Tycoon. Were it not for her status and the likelihood that at least one of those other idiots might be her personal guard, Faris might have considered inviting her to the comfort of her cabin. She was a lovely young woman and Faris didn't trust men with lovely young women.

The third problem, and one that has been a thorn in her side ever since the king's retaliation for her attack on his navy a couple of years ago: With the Torna Canal that linked the Inland Seas locked up to anyone without passage papers, tides low on account of winter and the heavenly spheres being further away at this time of month, and with landslide rubble blocking the narrow passage from Tule to Karnak, her ship was trapped in the Western Inland Sea. Pickings got slimmer with each day, and with her crew and colony of misfits dependent on her, she needed some other source of income.

Two of the three idiots she could probably throw overboard. Or drop off in one of the smaller port towns, if she was feeling generous. With her ranks already full and their futures uncertain, she didn't need the extra mouths to feed. 

And so she came to the princess. Pretty little thing. Bold, too, to step up to a pirate captain, apologize for trying to steal her ship, and announce herself royalty in the hopes that it might sway Faris towards agreeing to just _deliver_ her to her destination. While Faris appreciated people willing to stand up to her, she wasn't quite sure whether naivete was a driving factor in the princess' request. Princess Lenna claimed that her father had gone to the Wind Shrine to check up on the Crystal. Faris supposed that that was incentive enough, if the princess thought her father might be in danger. She wouldn't know, she'd never had a family. 

Princess Lenna had eyes like Faris', if differently shaped and more vibrant than Faris' grey-green. Not so unusual; green eyes were fairly common in the highlands of Carwen and Tycoon. Unusual was the fact that the princess showed her pendant as proof of her claim to the throne of Tycoon. It was the spitting image of Faris' own. Just in much better shape. A silver dragon curled around a green stone etched with something or other. Probably an emerald. 

Now, Faris didn't remember much about her early childhood. A storm, the pain of hitting her head, nearly drowning, and the slide of scales against her flailing hands were her earliest memories. What she did know was what she was told: that she was found in wreckage with her pendant, and that it was just glass and cheap white metal. Faris never had any reason to doubt her guardian on that front. The glass gem was too clear to be a real one; if it was real, it would have inclusions and require diamond-tipped tools to etch. No one gave a child _real_ jewelry to wear. Her guardian told her that it meant nothing, and why should she have doubted him?

Likely her pendant was made as practice before the jeweler made the princess'. Or it was a copy made to mimic some short-lived fashion in the royal court. It was the only thing that made any sense.

Ransoming the princess would take care of her immediate needs. A quick flush of funds to supplement her usual income until another unwary merchant ship wandered into her territory. And, really, something must be done about the stranglehold on passage through the Torna Canal. Something must be done about Tycoon's monopoly of the Wind Crystal, too, and the subsequent control of its powers. 

However, there was a danger in that the king may choose to mount a rescue mission instead. Or retaliate. Or do any number of things that resulted in Faris' efforts blowing up in her face. 

Faris' thoughts turned to an alternative. Alexander Highwind Tycoon was renown as the Pacifist King. He might have retaliated to her attack on his navy, but she did strike first. After all, she was the youngest pirate captain in history and had to prove herself somehow. He might be amenable to at least listening to her if she won over the princess. A grateful king would surely be more generous than an angry one. She might just get away with asking for more. 

She wiped the chalk from her slate and started with a new list. Demands or requests, it made no difference at this point. Faris would take the princess to the Wind Shrine.

⁂

Had Faris not spent the past few years carefully grooming crew loyalty and making judicious use of the fear some people had for her beloved sea dragon, she likely would have been voted out of her position and someone new might have taken over the _Maelstrom_. After all, it was the crew who decided what they did. She was just there to lead. 

Her crew took her grabbing of the reins of power to hurry them along with grace. Aside from some prodding, of course. They were smart and her quartermaster knew how to argue her case to them. She might end up paying for her presumption later, but for now Syldra hauled her ship to the Wind Shrine at a pace that would put the sleekest racing vessels to shame. 

The continued lack of wind concerned her, and not the least because the kingdom of Tycoon controlled the Wind Crystal. Manipulating the trade winds had been the key to Tycoon’s wealth; they’d never let the wind stop for so long. The wind died the other day and had yet to pick up again. And while Syldra was faster than any ship and had nearly unlimited reserves of energy, she was reluctant to rely so much on him. 

_I can handle it_ , he said on the second evening out from her hideout. Worry permeated through their bond. Faris wanted to reach out to him, stroke his scales soothingly, but his attention was on the northern horizon. 

Faris strode past her guests, the princess and her entourage, on the way to the bow. Syldra's hunger gnawed at her stomach, a sure sign that it was time to stop for the night. The skeleton crew she took with her for this venture scrambled forth at her gesture to unhook her dragon's harness from the towing lines. He waited patiently and craned his head around for her to scratch at his scales. 

So she did. Her nails found the soft skin between the scales with the ease of long practice. "You've been around a while." An understatement. He remembered a time when the world's shorelines were different. Faris wondered sometimes how old he was, but he stopped measuring time long ago. "Experienced anything like this before?"

 _Dead winds? Not here, not like this, not for this long._ Syldra's enormous green eyes closed in pleasure at her scratching. _I'll hunt and come back._

"Go eat to your heart's content. Rest if need be. We'll still be here."

Syldra paused, his gaze falling on the princess. _She's capable of hearing me._

_I think there are still some sky dragons in Tycoon. Her family might have one._ Faris switched her responses to thoughts; she'd rather not have the pretty princess realize she was being talked about.

 _Pets too dependent on humans._ Syldra snorted and pulled away to dip below the surface of the sea. His dorsal fin appeared again at some distance before he swam out of eyesight.

Faris leaned over the bow's railing to get a look at the damage to the hull of her ship accidentally inflicted by Syldra's tail. A little more battery. Another thing that needed money to be fixed. 

"He's magnificent," Princess Lenna said from behind her, her tone wistful. Faris turned to see her gazing after Syldra with something akin to longing.

"Surely yer da' can get you a dragon." It was peculiar, seeing a young lady so enamored by her sea dragon. Usually they screamed in fear, not delight. Syldra had been legendary even before he bonded with Faris, and his reputation as a wild and hostile demon dragon had been passed down generations. Nice, though, to be around a woman who didn't fear her soul's brother. And Syldra seemed to like her well enough. 

Lenna's gaze turned to her and her face fell. "My father's sky dragon is the only one left in the world. I will probably inherit him. He just…won't talk to me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

"Doubt it's anything you've done, love. Dragons choose who they want to talk to on their own." Faris offered her hand to the princess, and not just in sympathy; she'd noticed the lady had yet to gain her sea legs. It wouldn't do for Lenna to lose her balance on her ship. 

The other reason for it was, simply, to signal to her crew to stay away from the princess. Faris trusted them about as well as could be expected, considering that some of them were hardened criminals she'd broken out of prison a few years back. They'd proven themselves time and again, but she still didn't trust them not to be disgusting towards a refined lady who had likely never been around such ruffians. 

The hand that slipped into hers wasn't the soft, delicate hand of a noble lady. It was fine-boned, of course—much like hers, in fact—but she recognized the calluses of a swordsman. Or woman. Despite her usual iron grip on her features, delight insisted on tugging at the corners of her lips. Faris has taken enough trophies from noble ladies to know that playing with a sword was not what one of Lenna's refinement _did_.

"Took up the sword, eh?"

The corners of the princess' lips twitched as she fought the urge to grin. "Once or twice, perhaps."

"Sword hand like that? That's not 'once or twice.'" Faris, feeling particularly bold, settled the hand on the inside of her elbow. Lenna made no move to dissuade her. 

Rather, the delightful lady leaned close, almost conspiratorially. It seemed to be her secret, and one she didn't mind telling a pirate like her. "I've been teaching myself how to use the sword by watching the royal guard train since I was twelve."

 _Well._ Faris had expected a spoiled little princess who might have complained about her circumstances. Not…whatever Lenna was, instead. She was turning out to be a lot more interesting than Faris had hoped for. "And no one discouraged you?" 

"My father understands that the necessity of my training supersedes my status." The princess' lips pressed thin in her worry, compelling Faris to pat the hand reassuringly. 

_Don't, you bloody idiot,_ Faris rebuked herself before her fancies turned somewhere inappropriate. _Royalty's trouble._

 _You can always kidnap her for a night and be done by morning._ Syldra's voice teased her. He wasn't far enough away for their connection to fade. _Seems like she wouldn't mind._

 _I'll bet her father would. Or at least one of her companions._ Faris decidedly did _not_ look at the pretty princess as she guided her down the forecastle steps and back to the vagrant and old geezer. Shame, and the princess was just her type.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, the companions glared suspiciously at her. Probably for being so friendly with their princess. The vagrant was given the unfortunate name of Butz, which Faris supposed sounded perfectly fine in his native tongue of…she thought it might be one of the far northern languages. His words have those sharply defined consonants and staccato pace of those lands northeast of Tule, and he pronounced his name " _Bahtts_ ". Reeked of chocobos. He styled himself a wanderer, but all that meant to Faris was that he had nowhere to call home. Not that Faris was in a place to judge.

It was the amnesiac old man who approached her. Looked about her guardian's age of sixty-something, before good ol' Cap'n Merrick had the temerity to die on her. The black and gold of his clothes were nothing like the colors of any of the three kingdoms, but he held himself like an old and experienced soldier. 

"What are your intentions towards Princess Lenna?" he demanded, like he was the princess' bloody keeper.

"Galuf, please," Lenna began once she slipped her hand off Faris' elbow. She stood a little straighter. "I can take care of myself."

Faris had a half-dozen answers to the demand, but her chest ached under her bindings and she had no desire to get involved in whatever nonsense the princess' companions wanted of her. "Daresay you oughtta listen to her. I've work to do."

With that, Faris strode past them to her cabin so she could breathe, at least a little, before binding herself up again to resume her role during supper. Wouldn't do to reveal herself.

⁂

There were solutions to the problem of her body, of course. Merrick Reid was Mairi long before Faris was born. Probably before her long-dead parents were born, for all Faris knew. He'd had his breasts chopped off, the skin stitched up, and was healed by a white mage. Faris grew up with Merrick's warnings that women weren't welcome on pirate ships and knew that she had to play a man if she was to survive on the ship.

The difference between her and Merrick was that she never identified as a man. Not the way he did. Oh, he'd tried to influence her, telling her that she needed to play a convincing boy to protect herself and that she needed to be able to believe it herself, but she hung on to the fact that she was still a girl because she didn't have much else that was _hers_. Faris had no family, no nation, and never did. Even her name wasn't originally hers—she had a speech impediment as a child and the name she used now had been crafted from whatever she managed to slur or lisp out when she was hauled from the wreckage of a ship at five years of age. 

So she bound her breasts under short vests she had to make herself, hid her waist under layers of cloth to even out her silhouette, wore sleeveless greatcoats over her layered clothes even in high summer to keep prying eyes from getting a good look at her rear end, and spoke as roughly as any wharf rat. The role of the pirate captain was one steeped in theatrics, and she'd been pretending to be male for fifteen years. She's a bloody expert at it now.

Nowadays the crew accepted that she preferred spending her time alone in her cabin once her work was done. She talked to her officers after supper if she had to, but usually they left her alone. 

It was not a good time to play hermit, not when all her plans went askew. Once the princess and her entourage were fed, the quartermaster joined her in her cabin for planning. 

Faris' role was to plan raids and command their battles, and take charge when decisiveness was needed. The quartermaster took care of the crew, portioned out their winnings, meted out justice, and took her to task if she overstepped. Normally there was no need—she lived on pirate ships since she was five years old and knew all the rules, and certainly knew how dependent her position was on her crew's goodwill—but sooner or later the crew was going to wonder about her plans for them. 

The spare stool creaked as the quartermaster sat up from poring over the ledgers that laid open on her desk. His normally dense Tulish/Carwenian bastard of a sailor's accent was subdued, as it usually was when he addressed matters of business. "Don't look proper. Without that ship we meant to attack yesterday, we've naught to take to Tule to pay off our lads. They'll not mind for now, but—"

"Wind's _dead_ , Ben. It's been dead for days. We're the only ones able to sail right now." Faris didn't need to look at the ledgers to know how bad their prospects were. Without wind, they had no prey. Without prey, they would have to take the act to land. All the things that made her an effective pirate captain were tied to her bond with a sea dragon capable of summoning storms and generating inescapable whirlpools. She was powerless on land.

There were forty full-time crewmen on the _Maelstrom_ ; only a dozen of which were currently on the ship with her. Sixty more spread between two lesser ships moored at the hideout. Fifty-something vagrants and families of the crew in her hideout with nowhere else to go. A hundred thieves, a variable number of street urchins, and thirty ladies of negotiable virtue in Tule. Another hundred people of varying occupations she bribed to keep her little kingdom running free of official meddling. Merrick always did say she had too much ambition. 

"'S'why the crew wants to know yer scheme with the pretty bird." Ben watched her speculatively, like he had another question on his mind and wasn't sure about asking it. "Reckoned she's yer type, but…"

But he wasn't sure if she was being rational about this. Which was fair; she did fantastically stupid shit for pretty girls as a teenager, some of which got her into prison. "Ransom if we find her da' and he's not amenable to some talk. Bartering if he's 'preciative of us taking such good care of her. Either way, I plan on us getting something out of this."

"Aye, 'spected as much. Well, boss, I'll need to assure the crew afore I sends ‘em all to sleep." Ben stood and closed his ledgers. He paused while tucking them under his arm to glance back at her. His expression softened for a moment, reminding her uncomfortably of the nature of his affection for her. "Careful with 'em. Swells're more trouble than worth. Y'know that better'n any."

Faris distracted herself with a sip of wine before answering. She had been _sixteen_ when she fell in with the queen of Karnak and let herself be manipulated into their arrangement. Play the queen's consort long enough to discourage her court from further demands of marriage, or stay in prison. It hadn't been much of a choice, and it certainly wasn't _her_ fault it ended the way it did. "Entirely different situation. Shove off."

So he did, leaving her to the cabin that was home for as long as she can remember. There was a bunk; she had the top bunk taken off when she gained her captaincy, because Merrick was gone by then and there wasn't need of it anymore. Her sea chest and the narrow box she thought of generously as a wardrobe took up more space than she liked. The oil lamp swayed with the ship, hung as it was from the overhead timbers. Her desk was a hopeless mess without her guardian about to rap her knuckles for procrastination. The cabin always seemed to feel a bit too empty since Merrick died, especially when Syldra was also out of range. 

Part of the time she spent doodling poorly-drawn sea dragons and fish on her slate as she tried not to think about the pretty princess. Even if the princess was so inclined, there's no future there. Part of the time she wasted by drinking a little more wine and flipping through her records aimlessly. Eventually, with sleep nowhere to be found, the silence got to be unbearable enough to chase her out. 

The night watchmen nodded in acknowledgement to her as she passed them. One, a young Jacolean lad still green enough in his employment to fall over himself in his attempts to please her, glanced pointedly at the forecastle deck. 

The princess shouldn't be out like this, not without her escort. Certainly not in a filmy dress that did little to hide her legs. In the pale light of the white moon and their twin world, she looked positively sublime. Faris had half a mind to invite the princess to her cabin for some wine and a game at flats, which was a terrible idea all around.

Faris moved softly up the steps to the forecastle, keeping close to the railing where she knew the boards wouldn't creak. She hadn't intended on sneaking up on the princess, but she also didn't want to wake the men who slept under the forecastle. 

"Highness?" Her voice, though softened to keep from carrying belowdeck, still should have been enough to get the princess' attention. Faris had drawn close enough to touch her, but it felt…intrusive, somehow, to do so. Still, her fingers ghosted across the pale shoulder and—

And the princess whirled on her, one hand gripping Faris' upper arm and the other pressing something narrow and sharp into the padding that straightened out her waist. Were she born a man, with the hip-to-waist ratio to match, it likely would have drawn blood.

Faris had to bite back a surprised guffaw at the princess' boldness as she stepped back from what she had thought was just a decorative knife. Best not let the princess figure her out. Not yet. 

The princess pulled away almost as quickly, surprise and confusion flitting across her face before she settled on being contrite. "Faris! I'm sorry, I didn't hear you approach."

"Lost in the clouds, eh?"

"Worried." The princess slipped her knife back into the jeweled sheath dangling off her hip and turned back to watch the horizon.

Faris joined her at the railing, making sure she wasn't too close. Wouldn't want another encounter with the knife, after all. "I'm sure your da' is fine."

"It's not just him I'm worried about." Lenna paused to glance at her face, like she was trying to figure something out. "Have you noticed that the clouds haven't moved since the wind stopped?"

It wasn't something Faris wanted to think about. She had enough to concern herself with. "Aye. Syldra's worried, too. And when a dragon his age worries, I worry." 

"Is he very old?" Lenna seemed to perk up as she changed the subject. The worry shed itself from her shoulders, taking the tightness in them with it. Faris was tempted to smile at how bald the girl's fascination with her dragon was. 

"Reckon he might be a few hundred years old, maybe older. Says he remembers when the shorelines were different. Talk to him sometime." 

"May I?" Lenna's eyes practically lit up. Were things not so dire, Faris might have invited her to stay a while longer just to talk with Syldra. 

_I'd like that_. Syldra's tone was a mixture of curiosity and fondness; surprising, given that he'd only met the princess briefly. _She's like you_.

 _No, she's not_. Faris couldn't imagine anyone more different. What common ground would a princess possibly have with a foundling and lifelong criminal? 

But it's late, and the princess still shouldn't be roaming on her own on a bloody _pirate ship_. Given that the princess was prone to a confounding amount of naive willfulness, Faris suspected that she wouldn't obey the suggestion to go back to the quartermaster's cabin. Still, she could try.

"Syldra would be delighted. But it's late, lass, and as much as I trust my crew with my life, I don't trust 'em with yours. Fancy a drink to settle your nerves?"

A bold proposition, but the princess smiled kindly at her. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid my tastes in that kind of company runs towards my own kind."

The laugh that threatened to burst out of her had to be battened down with everything she had. Almost a shame that Faris pulled off the crossdressing so well. "Guess we have common ground there. Well, if you ever decide to let me test your steel, or even wish to play a game at flats, feel free to ask. But I, at least, need to be up before dawn. Syldra will keep you company."

Faris stepped away from the railing to shrug off her greatcoat. It was colder out here than from where they set out, and it wouldn't do for the princess to catch pneumonia on her ship. She bundled it and handed it to the princess. "This isn't your castle, love. Gets a lot colder at night. Take care of it for me and give it back in the morning."

The princess accepted her felted wool greatcoat gratefully. "Goodnight. Thank you."

With a bow that might have been presumptuous, Faris left the princess' side to unbind herself and head to bed. At least the greater troubles were forgotten about. For the moment.

⁂

There were ways in which Lenna Charlotte was supposed to do things. Rules of behavior, carefully devised methods of approaching problems, recommendations for any situation she might find herself in, and so on. The part of her life that belonged to the kingdom was carefully scheduled, regimented, and sanitized for her _delicate_ sensibilities.

Lenna fancied herself at least slightly more down-to-earth than the average aristocrat, and often eschewed those rules when necessary. Her father was common-born, from a minor dragonrider family, and was taken from his family as a child to serve as the king's successor and future husband to the king's sickly daughter. He was bonded to the last sky dragon in the world, and the previous king thought it prudent to keep her father and his dragon as a symbol that at least Tycoon's historic links to dragons would continue. He had never forgotten his roots and taught her how to survive without the comforts of her rank. 

When Lenna left the castle to chase after her father, she hadn't been completely unprepared. Even if she did leave with barely more than a few hurried words to one of the ministers. She took her knife and all the training that went with it. Most of her personal jewels she left behind, but still she brought some along in case she needed to barter or bribe anyone on the way to the Wind Shrine. Her clothes might be a bit revealing, but she had the freedom of movement she needed if she had to defend herself. 

All the training in the world hadn't prepared her for a meteorite strike, the buckling of the earth under her feet, or either of these things leading up to her losing her balance and being knocked out long enough for goblins to try to make off with her. And she _was_ grateful to Butz for saving her from the little beasts, truly, but she was sure that she would have been able to escape on her own if she had been conscious at the time.

Her father taught her to let others make their assumptions and use it to her advantage, so she smiled graciously as Galuf offered to escort her from the meteorite crash site to the Wind Shrine. She said nothing of her position as the princess when Butz joined her and Galuf along the way; she had no idea how such a revelation would be taken. 

Exposing her position to the pirate captain upon their capture—and honestly, they _did_ try to steal his ship—was a calculated risk. After all, with the wind so unnaturally still, he was somehow the only one sailing. Lenna sought to appeal to a pirate's greed, and he did not disappoint. 

The rumors and reports said that Captain Scherwiz could call down storms and control the seas. Lenna remembered well that he had assembled a fleet of six other pirate captains and struck out at her father's navy as an _example_. He had since focused his attacks on the wealthiest merchants, making himself a persistent thorn in her father's side as a result. Everything she heard or read had led her to believe that he was a horrid scoundrel interested only in money. She expected just about all the things one assumes about a pirate, really. 

Faris surprised her. Once he decided to let her and her party go, he was every bit the gentleman to her. Just for her, he softened his strident tones and extended every courtesy. It really should have been off-putting, as she had never been interested in men romantically, but none of his attentions felt like they were coming from a man. It was confusing. 

More confusing was the way the tingling left by his touch lingered like a pleasant memory long after he left her with his coat and went back to his cabin. Lenna rubbed at her shoulder and tried to ignore it. Honestly, she had more pressing matters to concern herself with.

 _Bonding with your kind is also important_. The mental voice that wasn't _hers_ resounded in her head with the timbre and echoes of ages. It tasted of saltwater, smelled of ozone, felt like sleek scales that stayed warm even at the coldest depths of the ocean.

Lenna gasped; her eyes darted around for the sea dragon the voice had to belong to. Obligingly, his massive head slipped almost soundlessly out of the water to fix one great green eye on her. His scales gleamed silver in the moonlight, and—

"Did Faris actually name you _Silver Dragon?_ "

The skin around the eye crinkled in what must be a dragon's smile, and Syldra gave something of a rhythmic susurrus that might have passed as a laugh. _No more ridiculous than the names humans give their offspring._

"Perhaps."

Lenna truly tried to comport herself the way a princess should, but she couldn't help feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the feelings his existence dredged up. His kind hadn't been seen for _generations_ before he surfaced years ago to terrorize the Western Inland Sea; they had been slaughtered hundreds of years ago for _parts_. The captain seemed to have the same sort of relationship to this dragon that Lenna's father had to his own dragon, something she desperately wanted and feared she would never have. Syldra might very well be the last of his kind, just as her father's Notos was the last of the sky dragons.

 _Not the last of my kind_ , Syldra said with a hint of amusement coloring the tone of his voice. _Just the only one who wanted more than hunting and mating in life_. 

Tension she didn't know she had seemed to shed off her shoulders. Other sea dragons! Perhaps there were still other sky dragons in the world, too. "Oh! Please pardon my presumption. How many remain?"

The nictitating membranes swept over his enormous eyes as he considered the question. _Hard to say. My kind does not need companionship the way sky dragons do. We only come together to mate and exchange information about your kind. At the last great convergence there were many heads._

The mental image he provided was one she couldn't hope to describe adequately. Perhaps a hundred adult sea dragons and a few juveniles swam in lazy circles in the open ocean, enshrouded by glowing energy fields that would have been invisible to human eyes. The spots along their backs blinked with unearthly red light in patterns that were almost certainly some kind of communication. Their energy fields pulsed in a similar manner. They sang ethereal notes that reverberated in the sea. 

There was talk of the western pod's good fortune in the survival of almost the entire nest of newborns; spots flickered and energy fields pulsed in congratulations. There was talk of the humans' whaling ventures, and Syldra laughed and said he'd capsized a few of the whaling ships in his territory in the Western Inland Sea. Some of the younger sea dragons approved of this, some of the elders didn't. An elder blinded by parasites scolded Syldra with angrily-pulsing glow spots for his impetuousness, citing the massacres of hundreds of years ago as reason to stay away from humans. Another mental image flitted almost too quickly for Lenna to grasp, that of a skinny human youth limned in starlight and thought of with such great love that she could barely breathe, and Syldra resisted the urge to retort that _his_ human would never think to harm the sea dragons. 

The experience ended abruptly as Syldra's head tilted towards the stern of the ship, disorienting her. Lenna had to grip the rail and blink away the lingering sensations a few times before she could ground herself.

 _Faris says you should go to bed_ , Syldra relayed, with a distinct sense of exhaustion Lenna suspected was leaching from his partner. _We will be at the Wind Shrine in the morning and you should be rested._

"May I ask a few things before you go?" Lenna started, her words threatening to run into each other in the rushed attempt to stop him from swimming away. Who knew when she would again be able to talk to him alone like this?

The skin around Syldra's eye crinkled again and she was sure he read her mind. _I can't speak for the sky dragon you want to talk to. They'd been so domesticated since their horns started growing wrong that I'm not sure they **had** minds by the time they died out. He may also simply be stubborn and holding a grudge._

A little bit of the hope that Lenna had been clinging to faded at his words, and she couldn't quite keep the disappointment from her voice. Once, when she was a child and acting as selfishly as any child, she had made a mistake and tried to hurt her father's dragon. Would it always haunt her? "Oh…"

Syldra craned his head over to nudge the side of her head with his nose in reassurance. The sensory pores and smooth skin between his scales were more prominent this close up. Lenna reached up to scratch at a ribbon of skin in that way she saw Faris do before. _Apologize again next time. He may simply be acting out of habit._

"And the girl? I think? Who is she?" The image hadn't been clear; it was a teenager with long, water-logged hair. The features that hadn't been lit by starlight were dark and fuzzy with that aura humans couldn't see. 

The great sea dragon gave her one last rub before pulling away. _Some secrets aren't mine to share. Goodnight._

Then he walled off his mind and slipped away below the surface of the water, leaving Lenna feeling a little bereft. Well, she supposed she had no more excuses to avoid going to bed.

Once she'd offered apologies to her companions, she laid herself out in the cot that passed as the quartermaster's bed and used the captain's greatcoat as a blanket. At some point while she was drifting off to sleep, faint words washed onto the edge of her consciousness. _She's mine. Don't hurt her_.

⁂

_I made a mistake_ , Syldra whispered as his partner changed positions in bed for what felt like the twentieth time that night. _A memory of you slipped while I was talking to her_.

The memory he shared with her was of Faris from five years ago, hours after she'd dived into the whirlpool that threatened to destroy her ship and crew and nearly drowned in the process. She had just been the quartermaster for all of a few months by then, and Ben's uncle was elected captain after Merrick died. She had been so sure that the whirlpool was going to kill her, but she'd heard a voice in it and had to follow and do something, _anything_ about it. 

She found Syldra generating the whirlpool and he screamed at her with all the hurt of unaddressed injustice. Faris screamed back to save her crew. Of course they fell in love and bonded once they burned themselves out, they had the same spirit.

Faris sighed and tried to settle more comfortably on her side. What wouldn't she give for a puff of opium to ease her restlessness right then. "Did she catch on?"

 _Don't think so._

"Doesn't matter now." An old, poorly-healed crack in her collarbone reminded her of its presence, making her wince and roll over to the other side. Getting a good night's sleep wasn't usually this hard. "We'll deal with whatever happens when it comes up."

Syldra's love washed over her like a balm, easing her mind from her worries and dulling the pains of a lifetime of piracy. _Go to sleep_.

Sleep came but seconds afterwards.

⁂

Morning activities on the ship were as follows: Lenna returned the greatcoat, the three guests had a breakfast of hardtack and tea to soften it, and Syldra's harness was hooked up to the ship shortly afterwards. The captain relayed the day's plans to the quartermaster. The quartermaster assigned cleaning and polishing chores as Syldra hauled the ship northwards in a near-breakneck pace. Butz was given a slab of sandstone the quartermaster called a holystone and was sent to help a couple of crewmen with polishing the weather deck, a task he took on without complaint. Galuf was assigned to help repair nets, and his claims of amnesia were useless in getting him out of the chore. Though Lenna was given no assignments, she insisted on helping out and was sent to the lower deck to straighten out the doctor's medicine cabinets. 

Lenna thought that she managed very well with straightening out the cabinets and sweeping the lower deck by the time she was called up to join the landing party. Still, she welcomed the breath of fresh air as she climbed up to the weather deck. 

Her good mood plummeted when she looked towards land and noticed that the small pier that served the Wind Shrine was smashed by something unnatural. All that remained were the piles. What could have done such damage?

"All aboard that's going ashore," Butz said brightly as she walked up to the little rowboat he was helping one of the crewmen prepare for lowering by the davits set up on the starboard side of the ship. He didn't seem as distant as he was when they met, but still she had the sense that he was just going along with her until they found her father and would be back on his aimless journey a moment afterwards. 

Still, she was grateful for his company. Lenna was more grateful that he seemed to expect nothing of her. He showed none of the interest in her that her potential suitors had, nor did he seem to want reward for his aid. Even Galuf had a vested interest in going with Lenna to the Wind Shrine, and he hit his head a little too hard when the meteorite struck. 

"Out, gramps," Faris snapped as Galuf started stepping into the boat. "That boat's for the princess."

A corner of Galuf's lips twitched under his moustache, but he couldn't quite keep the amusement from his eyes. "Please. I'm a frail old man."

Faris' eyebrow arched at that. He crossed his arms and glowered. "Not with _that_ build of yours. I'd bet my last gil you're a military man. _Out_. You'll take the second boat with Klauser and be glad of it."

Galuf harrumphed, but climbed out of the boat anyway. Lenna wondered why she never noticed how strong he was; but then, she never did pay that much attention to men.

"And who rows her to shore, son? You?"

"Captain's privilege." Faris' voice was dry, as if it was a foregone conclusion. He turned and _something_ changed in him that made some dormant thing inside Lenna sit up and take notice. Faris offered her his hand and she could feel heat rising to her face. "Princess?"

In the midmorning light, with stray hair tossed fetchingly by the dragon-generated breeze framing his gracile features and a slight smile that seemed to be just for her, this rough-spoken pirate captain looked positively _striking_.

Maybe Lenna wasn't completely insensate to attractive men, after all. She took the hand and let herself be helped into the small rowboat, glad that at least no one could see her cheeks go pink from the attention while her back was turned. She settled into one of the two seats in the tiny craft and waited.

As the crewmen turned the davits' cranks and the rowboat lowered, their captain joined her with a fluid, low-centered grace she'd never seen in a man before. Lenna wasn't sure why, but it eased the concern over her understanding of herself that started up ever since she started paying attention to the man. If she was going to start noticing a man _now_ , years after she came to terms with the fact that her adolescent fantasies were only ever filled with women, at least he seemed safe enough.

The captain sat across from her with that stance men so often take, with elbows on his wide-spread knees as he waited for the boat to hit the water. 

"You're been very kind," Lenna began, perhaps more awkwardly than she had intended. "You didn't have to be. Thank you."

Faris looked up at her with a thin smile. His sailor's accent was thicker than usual, perhaps intentionally so. "Reckon you've troubles enough. 'Sides, I've words for yer da' and can use yer help." 

At least Lenna had practice in keeping her disappointment hidden. Her hands tightened together in her lap. "Whatever you wish, within reason."

"As if I'm ever unreasonable." His thin smile widened into an easy grin. 

Lenna couldn't help but smile back as she relaxed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "You introduced a sea dragon as your brother."

"Point taken."

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but the boat hit the water. He shrugged off whatever it was and turned to unhook the line closest to him. "Think you can get yours?"

Unduly pleased by the request to be helpful, Lenna turned to follow his example. The line was just slack enough that she didn't need to pull too hard to unhook the line from the ring screwed into the structural reinforcement beam she didn't know the name of. If nothing else, this venture exposed the gaps in her education.

As she settled back in her seat, Faris grabbed the mismatched oars before she could even consider reaching for them and slipped them into the round fittings at each side of the boat. 

"I can row," Lenna started. She still wanted to be _useful_ , somehow, rather than just let the captain do all the work. 

Rather than answer her immediately, Faris braced his boots on the ribs of the boat and tilted the oars in preparation for launch. "You'll navigate, love." Then he winked at her, like they were old friends and not complete strangers just a few days ago. "'Fraid I've a prettier sight afore me than aft an' may end up goin' off course." 

Fighting down the blush was a lot harder when he looked at her like that. It was nice, though, to be flirted with and not have that sick feeling at the pit of her stomach the way she usually did when men flirted with her. She murmured her thanks, and in the silence afterwards he angled the oars into the water and started rowing. 

Faris was thin. Too thin, in a way that suggested a lifetime of limited access to food. He had strength enough that it didn't seem to matter; the fluidity of his rowing seemed testament enough to that. He kept himself so closely shaved that she never noticed a stubble. Most importantly, though, was that there was something familiar about him. Somehow. Lenna couldn't put a finger on it, but she wondered if it was part of the unusual attraction she had towards him. 

"Got a suitor lined up?" he asked at last. They were halfway to shore, to the best of Lenna's estimation. His tone seemed conversational, but his expression revealed probably more interest than he might have wanted showing.

Lenna tried not to chuckle at the complications that might open up. "Oh, no. Father says I'm to marry whom I want, when I want, so long as I'm happy with my choice. With…everything else, it hasn't been a priority."

The reality was that her choices were limited. The number of women who sought out other women for love and companionship were too few, and the gulf between social statuses was likely to be too great to be fair to any woman she chose as her wife. If she chose to sacrifice her happiness so that the court could have a blood heir by her that they would recognize as legitimate, she would be limited to her male cousins. Given that her grandfather fought a war for the right to avoid incest and marry a commoner, it felt a bit disrespectful to wed a nobleman she was almost certain to be related to. 

She had spoken of all of this to her father, and he supported her choices either way. He helped her plan out her future without judgment of her desire for other women, had even offered alternatives she hadn't considered. Aside from that one mistake long ago, she could do no wrong in her father's eyes. Her heart ached with worry for him. 

Something of her worry must have been plain to Faris, for he pulled harder on the oars and the boat went a little faster. "We'll get you to yer da', love. Ne'er you doubt."

The answering smile was wan, but it seemed like enough for Faris to smile back and focus on his rowing. 

They reached the shore in a comfortable silence punctuated only occasionally by course corrections. Faris stepped out of the rowboat and waved away her insistence that she could help, too, as he dragged the little boat just far enough onto the beach for Lenna to step out without getting her shoes wet. She slipped her hand onto Faris' elbow as they waited for the others to figure out how to get to shore. 

"They know 'bout yer sword handlin'?" Faris asked in something just above a whisper. 

Distracted by the stillness of the air around the Wind Shrine, it took Lenna a moment to register what was asked. "It hasn't come up yet."

Faris chuckled suddenly. It was nice; he didn't do it often enough. "Shame yer a princess. Yer just my type."

She didn't stop herself from a chuckle of her own. The captain seemed to have this effect on her far too often. "Shame you're not a woman."

The answering burst of laughter was louder and lasted longer than she thought it would. As if Lenna touched on something she hadn't expected. Before she could ask about it, Butz and Galuf drew near enough for Faris to stop himself. 

They hiked for what felt like hours along the cobblestone road to the Wind Shrine. Lenna kept an eye out for anything unusual, but the only thing that felt off was the lack of wind and the unnatural stillness of a place that had never been without. The leaves of the trees no longer rustled, the birds and jaculi kept quiet in their branches, the wind didn't whistle through the open spaces of its shrine. 

All seemed well at the Wind Shrine otherwise, at first. The chocobos belonging to the scholars who spent their time caring for the shrine scratched nervously at the ground and looked up cautiously as Lenna and her party approached. Even they seemed to know that something was terribly wrong. Butz looked like he wanted to stop to reassure them, but Galuf marched straight up the shrine's steps and showed no interest in petting the birds. 

The air inside the shrine was much more oppressive, and Lenna could _hear_ things skittering in the shadows. Were she not so concerned for her father, she might have drawn closer to Faris. Then she heard human voices, low and urgent, and peeled away from her entourage with her heart hammering in her chest to follow the voices to a closed-off room.

Past the door, a handful of scholars, the shrinemaidens, and one of her father's ministers turned and brandished an assortment of items that might be generously considered weapons. The closest scholar lowered his heavy book in recognition. 

"Princess Lenna!" Eustathios, of the Ministry of Interior, exclaimed. He pushed his way past the scholars to bow to her. 

Worry turned to full alarm as she realized that her father was not among them. "What's wrong?"

"The wind stopped suddenly," Eustathios' words almost ran together in his distress. Then he paused for a moment to breathe. "Monsters entered the shrine!"

Dread spiked like ice through Lenna's veins and turned her stomach to lead. She had to ball up her fists in her skirts to keep from wringing her hands. "And what of Father?!"

The minister couldn't quite look her in the eye as he responded. "King Tycoon went up to the top floor, but he hasn't returned."

"Surely something must have gone wrong!" the scholar who had intended to hit her over the head with his book interjected. He looked almost _excited_ by what was probably the most activity he'd seen in years.

So sick with fear for her father was Lenna that she might have fainted. Faris was at her side in a moment, his presence a welcome pillar of support.

"That Crystal's on the top floor." He took her hand in the effort to reassure her. "Let's go."

Lenna didn't have much opportunity to respond. They swept out of the room to make their way up the stairs, Butz and Faris cutting a path through the monsters along the way with sword and dagger. Galuf, being unarmed and still fully capable of using his fists, stayed close to Lenna. As much as she didn't want to appear helpless, she was grateful that no one expected her to join the fray. 

By the time they defeated a monstrous bird that seemed determined to make a nest of the third floor, Faris' breathing became pained and shallow. Despite their concern, he snapped at anyone who suggested he sit and rest. Lenna stepped in with her knife a few times, when it was apparent that the captain was having problems breathing, and she was almost thankful that the dark, disgusting ichor of monsters drying on her skin distracted from her distress over her father. She and Butz opened the door to the Crystal room at the top floor, and—

Light streaming in from the high windows and filigreed stonework glinted across clear shards strewn across the tiled floor. Up above the mossy altar, where the Wind Crystal should be hovering, there was nothing. The world ground to a halt as Lenna realized exactly what happened.

 _In the beginning, there was the Void,_ the memory of her nursemaid's voice drew to the fore of her mind with its lesson on how their world came to be. _Then four spirits filled the Void and the Crystals were born. From them was made the world._

"The Crystal," Lenna started, her voice soft with horror at what they were looking at.

Butz stared down at the shards, just as horrified. "It shattered."

Faris and Galuf said nothing as they joined them in the Crystal's chamber. What could be said? The incarnation of one of the primordial spirits that formed their world laid in shards before them. 

They stood together in silent uncertainty for a long moment that felt like eternity. Lenna entertained the silly notion that maybe gluing the shards back together might help, but there were too many small fragments and too much glittering dust. How would she be able to glue _dust_ back together?

"What the—" Butz started. Lenna blinked up at him, and glanced back at the shards when she noticed him staring at them.

The fragments flashed at first, then emitted a steady light. A light that almost burned as it filled the chamber came in from the west and seemed to fill the captain. His breathing no longer sounded pained.

 _Courage, the Spirit of Fire_ , something resounded in her head. Whatever it was, it spoke to all of them. 

A second light, cool and healing, washed in from the southeast. Lenna's breath caught as it filled her, flooding her with an awareness of herself that she never had before. _Devotion, the Spirit of Water._

A third, from the southwest, evoked the scent of sun-warmed soil when it enveloped Galuf. He blinked as if he was on the verge of remembering something. _Hope, the Spirit of Earth_.

Finally, from where the Wind Crystal should have been, a seed of light appeared, flashed, and buried itself into Butz's chest. By the time he thought to scratch at it, the voice spoke one last time. _Inquiry, the Spirit of Wind_. 

Lenna paid no attention to their reactions; she was numbed by too much stress inflicted too quickly. All she could process was that the Crystals had just chosen their Light Warriors, as they had a few other times in the past. Each time they chose their warriors, it was to prevent catastrophe. Lenna was just nineteen years old. How could she be ready for this?

Her father's voice calling her name roused her from her daze. He appeared like a phantasm as he hovered over the altar, looking almost sickly with lack of sleep. Behind her, Faris made some strangled sound at the sight and stepped up to Lenna's side for a better look. 

"Listen well," her father began. His voice sounded so strained and tired that she wanted to reach out to embrace him and carry him home if she had to. "Bearers of the four spirits. You have been chosen as the Four Warriors."

"Father!" She wanted to ask a dozen things, but one seldom thought well when destiny ends up slapping one with a quest. "What do you mean?"

"The Wind Crystal shattered. The other three Crystals may shatter as well. You must protect them. An evil spirit is about to be revived, one who will return everything to darkness."

Then he urged them again to protect the Crystals and passed out. Some dark, malignant aura enshrouded him, drawing him away from her. In her desperation, Lenna clambered up onto the altar, over the machinery that controlled the Crystal and the vines and moss that hid its cables. Her hands shot out and—

And he was gone. Lenna was aware, vaguely, of Faris somewhere behind her urging her to come back. What shook her out of the numbness of the sudden blow of her father disappearing right in front of her was the glitter of a handful of Crystal shards as they moved to surround the small party. Of the shards and dust strewn about, only six offered themselves to the newly minted Light Warriors. 

Legend said that the spirits of previous Light Warriors imprinted on the Crystal that chose them. She could feel the gentleness of a nameless white mage in the shard that pressed itself into her palm, and icy regard of the black mage in the shard that claimed her other palm. The healer provided a balm to ease her worries, the destroyer provided fire to drive her. 

"The Crystal shards…they're lending us their power?" Butz held two shards in his hands. They seemed to resonate more with him than with the others. Lenna supposed it made sense; the Wind Crystal chose him as its warrior. 

Galuf looked distressed as he examined his shard. Lenna wondered what he remembered. Would he even be able to articulate what fragments he recalled? He shook his head and shoved his shard into the folds of the sash around his waist. "In any case, let's get out of here."

Lenna returned to the altar, to where her father had been only moments before. Her heart ached and she desperately wanted not to cry. 

"Lenna," Faris began, his hand a warm, gentle weight on her shoulder. He seemed like he wanted to say more, but what could he possibly say to reassure her?

With a bracing breath, and another to help her swallow down the lump in her throat, Lenna descended down the altar steps with Faris' support at her elbow. Her voice was shakier than she liked, but who was going to care? "If I remember correctly, there should be a warp pad behind the altar that will take us outside the temple."

Faris said nothing as his arm looped around her shoulders. She leaned against him to draw strength from him as they shambled, exhausted and dispirited, to the warp pad at the far back of the Crystal's chamber. There were three other Crystals to protect. Would they be able to get to them in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Language notes:  
> \- Faris speaks very roughly, like you'd expect her to mug you in a dark alley. This was educational when I was younger and learning colloquial Japanese, but it can get a bit dense and difficult to translate sometimes. West Country hodgepodge is being used to reflect this.  
> \- There's a neat point in that the word used for Lenna's light warrior trait is いたわり, which, yes, is usually glossed into Devotion or Kindness. However, there's a deliberateness to it that reflects how hard she worked at being kind. I appreciate that because before her mother died, it wasn't a trait of hers and she had to work at it.  
> \- Butz's light warrior trait is 探求, which has been translated to Search, Quest, Curiosity, Passion, and others. None of it's actually wrong, and me going with Inquiry is just a matter of personal taste. 
> 
> Background notes:  
> \- Calendar year is a nod to Legend of the Crystals.  
> \- Lenna taught herself the sword. It's mentioned in multiple books.  
> \- Syldra's background and history is given in the book Basic Knowledge, his 1992 trading card, and the preliminary notes in the Ultimania Archive say that he was intended to turn on the gang.  
> \- The book Basic Knowledge has a lovely 2-page spread on the sky dragons, how they bonded to humans and when they started, and why their populations collapsed. 
> 
> Finally, thanks to my girlfriend and [Airam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/airamcg) for looking this over. You're both fantastic.


	2. Thy most familiar home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, none of the tales about previous Light Warriors ever mentioned sacrifice. Faris finds that she has a lot more to lose than she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta, we post like men. And women. And women who dress like men. 
> 
> Thanks to my girlfriend for looking it over, anyway.

The incarnations of the primordial spirits that created the world chose as their Light Warriors the following: an aimless vagabond, an amnesiac old man, a pretty princess with more passion than sense, and a foundling pirate. If Faris hadn't been in the thick of it, she might have laughed. 

Thing is, summons to destiny demand dropping everything for the grand quest. At any other time, Faris might have wished them well, sent them off with provisions because the band of idiots was growing on her, and gone back to hunting the ships of unscrupulous merchants. The shattering of the Wind Crystal promptly scuppered _that_. Can't very well hunt ships when there aren't any.

The other thing is: Butz can pick up and take off on grand quests whenever he wants, Galuf didn't remember a thing and was old enough to be enjoying retirement, and Lenna's kingdom would revolve around her whims if she so desired. Faris didn't have the luxury of just _taking off_ like that. She's got hundreds of dependents and a crew still in need of their payment. 

And, finally, there's suitability. She could see Butz as the typical lowborn heroboy of fables. Lenna's self-training and probable tomboy phase—Faris recognized close-cropped hair grown long out of necessity when she saw it, and Lenna's hair was still short enough to escape most of the bun she tried to keep it in—made her an ideal candidate for a heroine. Even Galuf was someone, once: his clothes may be minimally adorned, but they're well-made with good fabrics, and men his age weren't typically built like martial artists. Faris was a bloody damned pirate, always has been, and not a single thing about her made her a good Light Warrior.

Yet when destiny calls, even a lifelong criminal can't ignore it. Faris had affairs to get in order.

With the Torna Canal locked up against both pirates and the monster infestations that came of the shattering of the very thing that sealed them, the newly-minted Light Warriors had no choice but to go to Tule to get the key off the canal's master. Faris left that to the princess and her companions, claimed she was going to get drunk with the crew, and hared off to her room above the pub once Syldra went off to have his own well-earned rest.

It hadn't always been just a pub and inn. Once it was a brothel, and one her guardian dropped her off in during every shore leave until she was old enough to fend for herself. The madam doted on her in ways that always made Faris feel a bit uncomfortable, but she'd come to like the brothel and the ladies who took care of her more than she liked being isolated on a ship with no one like _her_ around. When the madam died some years after Faris gained her captaincy, her daughter came to her to beg for money to keep the brothel afloat. Recognizing the need for another source of income, Faris bought the brothel and left the running of it to the madam's daughter.

"Sure you wanna do this?" the daughter asked, her eyes lingering doubtfully on the papers drawn up to surrender full ownership of the pub and inn to her. Unmentioned in the text was that it still unofficially ran as a brothel. "Thought this was gonna be a partnership. Least 'til I earned back what you paid."

"Crystals saw fit to press me to service. There's no cheating that."

Korinna paused for a moment to speculate whether Faris was having her on. Fair enough. Under her scrutiny, Faris sipped at her wine and left her to her thoughts. "And it looks bad for a Light Warrior to own a house of ill repute."

"Looks worse to have a career criminal as a Light Warrior." Faris couldn't quite hide her grin behind her glass.

The laugh that erupted from her former minder started with a snort and grew until she had to stop for breath and wipe away the tears. "They just picked whoever was in the room at the time, eh?"

"A vagrant, an amnesiac, a noblewoman, and yours truly." It sounded more absurd the more she thought on it. "Aye. Best get measured for my coffin while I'm here."

"Well, I've more faith in you than that, my girl," Korinna began, hands busying with sorting the paperwork. "I'll have this signed and the notary bribed to slip it into the public records. Anything else you want done? It's early yet, so I can have your favorite sent up if you want her."

There was a peculiar kind of balm that always seemed to spread over Faris when her old minder called her a girl, and she could never really figure it out. Fewer than a handful of living people knew her secret, and only Korinna seemed to understand that Faris didn't actually _choose_ or _want_ to be raised as a boy, but also didn't want to be trapped by the restrictions that always seemed to come with womanhood. She'd rather play a man than have to marry one and push out children, or work herself to an early grave at _woman-appropriate_ jobs. She'd rather not deal with the way too many men _act_ towards women, or the way they talk to them. 

"Nah. Taking my caulk early." She needed to recover from fighting monsters in a too-tight binding vest after a rigorous hike, for one. Cracked her ribs against it trying to get more air in, which made sleep harder to come by. Lenna, sweet lady that she was, had offered to heal her on the way back to the ship. Faris rebuffed her offer out of habit and regretted it since. "Could use your healer and any magic dragon you've got left over." 

Korinna stood and held the paperwork close to her chest. "You'll have them both. I've supplies and supper to send up, too. Any preferences?"

With a shrug as her answer, the older woman left to take care of things for her. Faris could insist all she liked that she could handle her own affairs, but there was no arguing with Korinna.

Supper and the opium pipe came after the healer tutted at her over her carelessness, healed her anyway, and left. Bighorn steak cubed and grilled with vegetables on skewers, grape leaves stuffed with herbs and rice, lemon rice soup, a yoghurt cucumber dip for flavor, and a fresh orange to go with a slice of cinnamon-orange cake. It was such a _Tycoonian_ affair that the inn didn't often serve it. Something about politics and Tule having been annexed by the previous King Tycoon a few decades back. Faris, having no parents, nation, or even proper schooling, wasn't connected enough to care. 

The sweet, floral smoke of some of the best opium out of Jacole numbed the pains of an abrupt healing, bundled her up in sun-warmed fleece, and quieted her mind enough for her to drift away. She never had too much—harder to keep her secret if she was drugged out of her mind like an addict, and it made her paranoid if she didn't feel completely safe in her surroundings—but just enough to make her feel fuzzy, happy, and so numb to her usual worries that she forgot to lock the door.

But this was the residential floor above the pub. Korinna had the room on the other side of the stairwell, she never let people up here without just cause. Aside from the force of habit, Faris never had real reason to lock up.

She was in the middle of a vivid dream about a wife, stability, a cottage by the sea. Something eternal. Someone to protect and spoil rotten, who not only didn't mind that she didn't fit in either male or female worlds but embraced that aspect of her. Not things she expected in her life any time soon, but it was nice to dream. In the lucid dreaming gifted by the opium smoke, she was able to slot Lenna easily into the role of the wife. Too easily, perhaps. Not that it mattered. Reality and its messiness didn't belong in dreams.

From somewhere far beyond the dream came noises that didn't belong. This place was supposed to sound like waves lapping at the shore, seabirds, a sweet wife talking of mundane things unrelated to her criminality as they dug up shellfish, not—

Rustling, a door opening, a sharp intake of breath, heavy steps and urgent voices—these things did not belong in her dream. A vague sense of concern permeated through her dream; it turned to full alarm when a second pair of feet entered and left her room. 

Sheer self-preservation kicked her soundly out of her dream, waking her with a start. With her heart racing, Faris' eyes darted around the room. Korinna's packages of supplies were undisturbed, her binding vest was out of sight, and…

And, _shit_ , but she didn't have enough time to put it on. Faris swore up a storm under her breath, stuffed her legs into her trousers, hid the shape of her girls under her hair and prayed to whichever primordial spirit that smiled on her to favor her again just this once, and stalked to the door. 

Out in the hallway were her fellow Light Warriors, shortly after Lenna said something in an exasperated tone of voice. Butz and Galuf looked light-headed in a way that assured her they were the bimpers going through her room. Her mind darted to what they might have seen, but there was nothing that could have betrayed her; she had been under the blankets, her binding vest had been packed away in the chest of drawers, the packages didn't look rummaged through. 

_Whatever. Chase 'em out._

"The hell are you doin'?" she snapped about as sharply as she could, arms crossed in front of her girls just in case. "Get a grip!" 

The men finally came about and at least looked apologetic. Lenna just seemed relieved that they'd come to their senses, if a bit taken aback by her tone. 

With a sigh, Faris battened down the urge to scrub her face. "Sorry. Rather be alone a bit. Later."

Before they could respond, she shut the door firmly in their faces and locked it behind her. She could still feel the magic dragon in her and needed to calm herself before going back to sleep. Last thing she needed was for it to kick fuel onto the embers of her paranoia.

⁂

Some fifty years ago, Lenna's grandfather Gelon, King of Tycoon, set out to conquer the world. While he was ousted from the kingdom of Walse, many of the territories he annexed remained under Tycoon's protection. He was forced to give up Carwen and everything east of the isthmus separating the Inland Seas, but he retained Tule and Lix. As Lenna understood it, his reasoning was that the Wind Crystal did not have strong protectors and would need Tycoon's might. His fellow kings and her father agreed.

Lenna kept quiet as she and the men roamed Tule to gather information, hoping to avoid letting her Tycoonian accent slip. The canal's master, Zokk, hadn't been in when they tried to visit, so they went to look in on Faris and his crew to figure out their next steps.

Well, _that_ hadn't worked out. Peculiar as it was to see the other men act like schoolboys with crushes, she couldn't say that she was unaffected by seeing the captain in such a state of disarray. As her preferences leaned towards curvy women with impeccable hair and clothes, the peculiar feelings his mussed appearance drew from the deepest parts of her gave her pause.

At least him shutting the door in their faces allowed her to flee from examining those feelings. 

"Back to Zokk's?" Butz asked as they descended the stairs. The advanced Silence spell that enveloped the second story, rendering the noise from the pub a nonissue, made her shiver when they walked through it. It felt like breaking through a layer of thick, cold oil.

Lenna barely had time to respond before the establishment's owner stepped into their path. She was a tall woman, broad-shouldered and flat-chested, with long, lovely golden curls falling in a captivating cascade down her back that didn't match the black of her brows or lashes. She had dragon-green eyes brought out by the emerald of her makeup, which suggested at least an ancestral link to a dragonrider family. Her dress was a bit flamboyant, given to bright colors and sequined trim, but it was well-tailored and suited her. 

"My boy kick you out?" 

The owner's voice was low, almost like a man's. Lenna didn't remark on it; her cousin employed such people regularly and she knew better than to question their identities. There was, however, something familiar about the accent. It wasn't quite Tulese.

Galuf had no such restraint. "Bit young to be having kids that age, aren't you?" 

"A pirate drops a child in your lap, you don't upset him by saying 'no'." The woman's voice was dry, and Lenna finally figured it out. There was an undercurrent of Tycoon in the shape of her vowels that didn't change her consonants in the way that Tulese did. She warmed to the older woman immediately.

"Would you be so kind as to let Faris know that we'll check up on him in the morning?"

The examining look the older woman gave her wasn't unpleasant, but it did make Lenna wonder what she was thinking. "You're the ones he took to the Wind Shrine?"

"Sure are," Butz replied. His tone sounded friendly enough, but Lenna suspected he hadn't let his guard down the moment they entered the place. When he thought no one was looking, his eyes darted to potential exits and skimmed the crowd. 

Something about the woman eased. "Korinna Metaxas, proprietor. Please stay for dinner. I'll not have _Light Warriors_ in my establishment going unfed."

"We would appreciate it," Lenna started. She wished she thought to bring along a proper purse of gil, if just to pay Ms. Metaxas for her trouble. She'll just have to come back later. "Thank you." 

As the men went straight for the table nearest to the dance stage, the older woman stopped her with a light hand on her elbow. "Stay for a little while after supper. My boy has a gift for you."

Then she left in a flash of lamplight on sequins to do whatever it was that inn and pub proprietors did. Lenna joined the men at the table and tried not to stare at the beautiful, scantily-clad dancers. Much.

Supper was souvlaki, avgolemono, dolmades, tzatziki for dipping and pita bread to roll the souvlaki in, and a slice of portokalopita for dessert. It wasn't high cuisine, but it was so _Tycoonian_ that Lenna wondered how much the captain told Metaxas about her. Still, it was a thoughtful gesture and she would have to pay Faris back somehow. 

Butz eyed her speculatively as he paused in tearing off a bit of bread for dipping. "This Faris' doing?"

"That's the sense I get from Ms. Metaxas." Lenna tried to ignore the fact that he left his napkin untouched and was eating with his hands. At least Galuf had the wherewithal to use his fork. 

"Mm. Not a great idea, advertising like this." Then he shoved his rolled-up bread into the tzatziki, scooped up as much as he could, and crammed it into his mouth. Lenna had to look back at her own food to avoid the sight. 

"Why's that?" Galuf eased his grilled bighorn steak and slices of vegetables off the skewer with his fork the way she did, which made her wonder which noble house was missing its grandfather.

Butz held up a finger and washed down his bread with a cup of tea. It seemed that pirates had drained the pub of the alcohol that would normally be served at dinner. "Tule's occupied territory. Conquered in the war fifty years back. Not a lot of locals like Tycoon." 

Though she tried not to let geopolitics affect her mood, Lenna's shoulders slumped ever so slightly. She had been told many things about her grandfather's grand plans, but the reality was that Tycoon was many times its original size and its protection was not always appreciated. Her father's answer to being saddled with the aftermath of her grandfather's hubris was to rule conservatively, refrain from overreach, and leave local government to local leaders. Still, it didn't seem like enough. What could she do to improve on that?

"Most of the people here are Faris' crew," Lenna reminded him. True, there were some locals, but she recognized most of the men as being the captain's. "I don't think anyone will risk anything with them around."

There was a clink as Galuf set down his fork. His grin at her was large enough for Butz to start snickering. At the utter confusion on her face, the grin softened. "'Ms. Metaxas'. 'Mr. Butz'. 'Mr. Galuf'. ' _Faris_ '."

Lenna rather thought her stomach would curl into a ball and roll away when it dropped; she hadn't realized she was so _transparent_. She hadn't _once_ referred to Faris formally the entire time she'd known him. Heat rose to her cheeks in embarrassment.

Butz's sudden laugh assured her that her blush was plain on her face. She lowered her head, wished she knew dimensional magic so that she could vanish herself, and clasped her hands tightly together in her lap.

Out of sympathy, Galuf patted her arm. Butz stopped laughing, but still he smiled at her. "Now, I don't approve of pirates, but the Crystals don't make mistakes when they choose their Warriors. Spirits, I've seen the way you two flirt with each other. You'll make it work."

"Fire and Water?" Butz's bright blue eyes could have twinkled. "Classic. I'm sure it's happened before."

"It's not—it's just…" Her blush only deepened as she took the napkin in her lap and twisted it over and over in her distress. She wanted to detract, say something about how she was simply addressing Faris the way someone of her rank normally addressed a thief, but the words just wouldn't come out. 

"It's charming," Galuf started as he picked up his fork again and skewered a slice of roasted tomato on it. "But our food's getting cold and that cake looks too good to pass up."

Thankfully, Butz returned to shoving dolmades into his mouth with unwashed hands. When several seconds passed without a return to her humiliation, Lenna poked at her food with a fork until her stomach unfurled and her appetite returned. 

Once they finished and the plates were cleared away, Lenna moved to get up. Or, she tried. 

"Sit back down and watch, doll," one of the dancers said, winking when Lenna looked up. "Boss ordered up a special service for you!" 

Lenna hoped desperately that she wasn't gaping as much as Butz when the dancers came down from the stage to join them. Galuf, as if knowing exactly what was coming, hauled Lenna's chair out with one hand for the dancers to have more room to move around. Their skin glinted with sweat in the lamplight, their limbs were slim and their exposed stomachs flat, and Lenna could not take her eyes off the slopes of breasts right in front of her, and—

Butz slammed his palms on the table as he got up, though he looked outright amused as the dancing girls crowded around Lenna. "Right. So, the magic shop's still open and we gotta stock up. Galuf, let's go."

"Aw, come on—" But Galuf got up anyway and joined Butz as he walked out of the pub. 

She almost wanted to get up to join them, but then soft, slim fingers nudged her face back towards the dancers. The dancer in front of her smiled with ruby-painted lips. "Enjoy, baby girl."

Frozen as she was in her seat, Lenna could only watch and marvel as the dancers swirled and undulated around her. Why had none of her adolescent fantasies ever gone this route? It was _wonderful!_ She wanted to reach out, see what it was like to feel another woman and have her touch be welcomed, but it seemed rude to do so while the dancers kept her attention riveted. 

The dance changed as one of the dancers straddled her lap and undulated; Lenna so wished to embrace her that she almost ached with desire. The dancer smelled of roses and clean sweat. The dancer's pink-painted lips brushed hers as sparkly pink nails feathered across her cheek, down her throat, to rest at her pendant. "Boss says you can take any of us to bed. Or all of us, if you like. I specialize in virgins. I'll show you how it works." With that, the dancer pressed a brief kiss to her lips and slipped off her to wait at her side for her answer.

The second dancer, one with orange-painted lips and short nails, took the previous dancer's place in her lap. She smelled of honeysuckle. She smiled kindly and teased tendrils of stray hairs framing Lenna's face. "Don't worry about money, we're all paid up for the night. I specialize in all the pleasures one woman can give another, and I'm _very_ good with my tongue." As if to emphasize the point, the dancer grinned and licked the tip of Lenna's nose before getting off of her.

The last, with red-painted nails and lips and some heady perfume that Lenna suspected was red musk softened by some exotic flower she didn't know the name of, took her place in her lap and reached around to play with the small hairs at the nape of Lenna's neck. "And I specialize in toys and the exotic. If you need a little extra, there's always something exciting in my toybox."

A shot of dread spiked through Lenna as she recalled coming across one of her maids talking about such things with another. Sensing her tense, the dancer eased away a bit. "Not that toys are _needed_ , of course—" 

"No, it's not…" Lenna moved to get up. Though the red-painted dancer looked disappointed, she slipped off of her lap. It was the opening Lenna needed. "I'm sorry, I need to finish— There's an errand. I…Sorry, maybe next time."

With that, Lenna all but fled the pub. She didn't stop running until she found her companions outside the magic shop with spell scrolls haphazardly poking out of Butz's travel pack. They saw her coming, glanced at each other, and asked no questions about how her time with the dancers went. Thankfully. She wasn't sure she could explain why the talk of _toys_ distressed her so.

Just as well she left the pub when she did. They still needed the key to the canal's great gate.

⁂

Just as well that Faris went to bed as early as she did, given that the morning was a cyclone of activity. It started with consulting with Ben over what assets she still had that could be liquidated quickly, and that was so early that it was still dark and he was still inebriated. Once he was sober enough, she sent him off to sell whatever she had that could be sold. The bos'n she sent off to find a galley for the remainders of her crew, in case they wished to row back to the hideout, and the rest of her skeleton crew she sent off to collect her people and sort them out by their immediate needs. One of the dancing girls' daughters came up with breakfast and demanded a hug, which Faris allowed simply because she was a good kid and there was no harm in it. 

Dawn came about too soon and the only reliable bank in Tule opened once the owner shambled out to unlock the door. She nipped out quickly, had her bank notes exchanged with much reluctance on both their parts, tried to ignore the pain of doing away with everything she'd saved for her retirement, and went back to the pub with just barely enough gil to pay off everyone she had on account.

Then, after Ben ran her figures for her and sorted out the pay for her entire crew, came the parade. Thank the Spirits for the crew who came with her, they kept order and ensured that she wasn't overwhelmed as she portioned out their payments. Each surrender of her own gil felt like a bit of her future being carved away. 

If nothing else, it seemed that her people knew something serious was going on and it dampened their usual inclination to grasp for more. The fine ladies of the night didn't try to haggle for better payment. The thieves muttered their thanks and pocketed their meager gil, allowing for the fact that she told them to keep the cut that she usually took out of their earnings. The runners for officials in her pockets took their gil and slinked out. Even the urchins refrained from arguing for more. By the time she was done, she had barely fifty gil to her name. At least she still had Syldra and the _Maelstrom_ , so she wasn't entirely broke.

Of _course_ she went back to her room to sulk; even with a dragon and her own ship, it would take _years_ to replenish her retirement funds to their previous levels. She didn't come out again until the bartender alerted her to the other Light Warriors leaving, at which point she'd already had her supplies sent to her ship. 

It was while she was halfway to the harbor with the merry band of idiots that she heard her bos'n call for her to wait up. _Right_. She'd forgotten that the only ones she actually told her plans to were Ben and Korinna. With a sigh, because she _did_ want to slip out without causing a scene, she turned to tell them on no uncertain terms that she was leaving them behind. 

Not that it was taken particularly well. Protests she expected. What she didn't expect was the _fierceness_ with which they protested. 

"We'll go with you," one of the men exclaimed.

"No." She had a dozen excuses: limited funds meant limited supplies, more men meant more to keep track of and worry over, the clarion call to destiny hadn't included them, so on. The reality was that she didn't know how to keep them all fed with the amount of money she had. And really, who knew what kind of power could shatter one of the Crystals like that? She wasn't about to risk more people than she had to on this fool's errand. 

At the uptick of protests, she hollered in what she always thought of as her captain's voice. "Looks like it's gonna be a long trip. Protect the hideout in my stead, lads!" Then she waited out another round of " _Boss!_ " before following up with a quiet, "Please."

"Aye, understood," the carpenter said. His grudging agreement was echoed by the men, allowing her to turn and join her fellow departing Light Warriors.

One final bit of business ran out before she ventured out of town and towards the harbor entirely. Ben, waving a bill of sale that was the last bit of business she left to him, hollered after her. "Take care, boss!"

Faris waved back, relieved that he managed to secure the galley, and left her men behind. 

⁂

Without a crew to secure the harness, Faris could feel how uncomfortable Syldra was as the harness shifted around his neck and collarbones. He refused any suggestion to stop long enough for her to climb down the chains and secure it herself. Argued that it would take too long. As they were both just as stubborn as the other, Faris relented with a reminder that he was to stop if it got too painful.

She busied herself with her supplies, instead. Korinna made her some new binding vests, which she folded into her sea chest after looking them over and allowing herself to feel a bit of appreciation for her former minder. Faris never was very good with stitching. The parcels of food she dumped into tins to keep weevils out of them. She had enough rice in the larder still to fill their stomachs, and Syldra to bring up a fish if they needed it. 

Then she was left with the party's supplies. Maybe they still didn't trust her, but there wasn't room enough in the quartermaster's cabin for them and the supplies. The armor and weapons she paid little heed to, aside from sorting out the kind of things the knight's spirit in her shard favored, and the other bundles were fairly paltry.

Perhaps as a gesture of good faith, Lenna left an expensive silk bag filled with trinkets she probably hoped to sell off for funds. Faris, appreciating the gesture, only touched it to run up a mental inventory and make a guess at how much each ring and bracelet might sell for at Walse. Galuf had nothing but the clothes on his back and a signet ring with a crest not even Lenna could identify. Butz had a small parcel, and within it she found some grooming tools, extra clothes, and a pauper's urn. Complete with the rattle of bone fragments. _Bloody hell_. Put it right back, she did.

When she was bored enough and felt her binding vest was secure enough, she ventured out of her cabin to take the wheel. Not that she needed to, but controlling the rudder kept the ship on a more even keel while Syldra pulled them along. 

Somewhere around midday, before any of them was hungry enough to ask to be fed, Butz approached the pretty princess perched at the forecastle rail. Faris had her suspicions about him, as she usually had about men she didn't know, but he seemed disinterested in getting involved with anything. She respected _that_ well enough, as she was much that way herself.

Yet there was a while still before they'd come to the Torna Canal, she was bored, and there was talk to be had. She left the wheel to draw close enough to hear them. 

"And if they shatter?"

Lenna's voice was quiet, grim. Her shoulders hunched as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Nothing will happen for a while, but the earth will slowly decay, water will stop flowing and stagnate, the power of fire will stop and everything will become cold and frozen… It will become a world in which none can live."

"We'll protect the Crystals!" Galuf said, his voice as solid as his trunk as he stepped out from belowdeck. Faris almost envied his resolve. 

Though she was a bit too far away to see his expression, she could make out the amusement in Butz's voice. "Memory's returned?"

"Nope!" His voice was outright _chipper_. "Still going to protect them."

Faris stopped at the top of the forecastle stairs. "I'm going, too. Gotta find Lenna's old man." Not the least because she needed her ransom, now more than ever. Certainly not because she was concerned for the darling princess and didn't want her so worried.

And _that_ thought she kicked soundly to the side, if only because it was not the time to think such things. 

With a deceptively light voice, Butz spoke. "King of Tycoon. Wrapped in shadows and just vanished. That one, right?"

Faris wanted to toss him overboard for trying to take the piss out of this whole thing. She strode up to him and narrowed her eyes and cursed the fact that he was actually _taller_ than her. Not by _much_ , admittedly, but still. "He's still alive! Lenna's old man wouldn't just _croak_."

Butz blinked at her, taken aback by her vehemence. She glared back and refused to acknowledge that it surprised her just as much. 

As if to save her from the inconvenience of self-examination, Lenna flashed her a brittle smile in thanks and placed a hand on her arm before turning her attention to the vagrant. "Mr. Butz, would you come with us?"

Any levity he tried to inject into the matter faded from his face as he glanced from one Light Warrior to the other. He rooted around his pockets, which in any other situation would make Faris suspicious. What he drew out eased her mind, a little. "I was just wandering. But, when I look at these…"

"The Crystal shards…" Lenna whispered. Her grip on Faris' arm tightened and she smothered the irrational urge to reassure her. 

The two shards that favored Butz were shoved into his pocket. They were imprinted with the spirits of a blue mage and a thief, if she recalled right. "They're lending us the power to protect this world. The Spirit of Wind… I'll go! To protect the Crystals."

Galuf beamed, like he was proud of them for some damned reason, and _climbed on the bloody bowsprit to pose dramatically_. Faris wondered faintly who had written her into a comic opera. "Right! Let's go!"

They're doomed. 

⁂

While Syldra was going as fast as he could, the wait to actually _get_ to the Torna Canal was excruciating. By wind alone, the trip was a handful of days. Syldra hauled them at top speed day and night. Faris could feel an exhaustion in him that she'd never felt before, and still he refused to rest. 

_I can rest after we pass through the canal_ , he said when she pressed him again to take a break and eat. _Water Crystal's more important._

"Won't do us much good if you _collapse on us_ before we get there," she countered, with perhaps more sharpness than she intended. 

He might not have turned his head to look at her, but she could feel his mental eye on her. His voice was just light enough to be teasing, but not so much as to feel like he was dismissing her concerns. _Please, I don't collapse, I float._

Faris sighed; there was no arguing with him when he had a notion in his head to stick to. Still, she lowered her guard for him, allowing him to feel every bit of worry she had for him. "You'd be useless either way."

 _I'll rest after we're through the canal. Promise._ With that, he dipped his head below the water to sense his way and keep from drying out. 

Left to her own devices, Faris would rather not deal with the canal at all. With the Wind Crystal shattered, every monster sealed up by its power would be running about. The others were bound to notice that the monsters only attacked women. Maybe she lucked out when the knight's shard pressed itself to her palm, but jumping to Lenna's defense could only work as an excuse for being attacked by the monsters for so long. 

_I can eat them_ , Syldra offered when his head popped up above water again.

"You'll do no such thing. Those suckers they've got are barbed."

Syldra's response was little more than a grunt, and he turned his focus back on pulling the ship along. Faris wished she hadn't been so brusque with him, but the last thing she wanted was for him to hurt himself for any of them. He was too important, and not just because he was their transportation. Syldra was half her soul, and she was half of his.

At some point after the short meal of fish and rice balls that were going to go bad if they were kept any longer, Lenna joined her at the wheel. Faris tried not to pay too much attention to her, knowing herself well enough to recognize how quickly she was falling for the sweet little princess, but Lenna kept insisting on socializing with her. It was nice. It was also absurd. Princesses should not be bonding with the dregs of humanity. 

"I never thanked you for the gift in Tule." Lenna tried to tuck some tendrils of stray hair back behind her ear, but the dragon-generated wind only blew off her efforts. Still, the effect was nice and distracting. It drew Faris' attention to her face, to soft, inviting pink lips she dreamed of tasting. "So, thank you. You didn't have to."

Faris blinked, hoping the direction of her gaze wasn't noticeable, and glanced instead at the men talking at the bowsprit. "Heard you didn't take the ladies on their offers." Some irrational part of her was pleased, and _that_ she kicked soundly to the side.

"No, I—were they offended?" Even if Faris wasn't looking directly at her, she could hear the nervousness and a touch of regret in Lenna's voice. "It's not…I really did like their, er, attentions. I just panicked."

"Makes no matter. Whether they could entertain you or not, they still got their pay." Well, maybe Poppy might have regretted spooking the poor girl, and Marigold pouted over losing the opportunity to perform for another woman, but easy money was still money and they simply moved on. 

The silence that followed was comfortable. Too rare an occurrence when she talked with men. Then, before Faris considered breaking it, Lenna continued. "Um, Faris? Would you mind me asking a personal question?"

"Depends." Faris' knuckles might have gone white at the wheel. She ignored it, staring resolutely forward in the effort to show nothing revealing on her face.

Lenna's voice was halting and uncertain; likely she'd never broached such a subject before. "Do you often pay for the company of such women?"

The tension in Faris' hands eased; thankfully Lenna hadn't caught on yet about her secret. Faris had lived so long as a man that she wasn't ready to reveal herself, even to a beautiful young woman who seemed perfectly suited for her. "Not in the way you're thinking, love. They just offer what I can't get elsewise."

"I find it hard to believe that you would have difficulty finding someone to—" Before she could finish the thought, Lenna made a cutest little squeak and clapped her palm over her mouth.

Faris firmly tamped down the desire to kiss another squeak out of her; it really wasn't fair that the princess was too cute. Too sweet. Too pretty. Bloody hell, she didn't have time for this. She plowed on. "Finding someone to engage in night physicals with? Not so hard. Finding someone willing to just sit, share a meal, and cuddle without expecting a relationship is trickier. The night ladies are just as happy to fulfill that need as any."

Lenna blinked up at her, taken aback by her admission. Faris tried not to frown as she reviewed her words. Seemed she left slip more than she intended. No helping it now, she supposed. "Korinna says I'm touch-starved. Whatever that means."

"Oh!" The pause the pretty princess went into allowed Faris to turn her attention away from what she expected to be an awkward moment if she let slip anything more. Yet Lenna didn't seem as willing to let it go; she stepped a little closer, twirling a tendril of hair that escaped the bun in her fingers as she did. "There are…things I can't do, but if all you need is compan—"

The ship rocked suddenly, pitching port-wise in that way it did when Syldra accidentally slapped its bouts with his tail. With a gasp of surprise, Lenna stumbled, lost her footing, and—

On instinct, Faris lashed out to catch her wrist, pull her up enough to support her back with a hand, and let her settle nicely in her arms. Lenna was so light. Her bright green eyes were wide with surprise, soft pink lips parted in what might have been invitation, and it wouldn't have taken much at all to close the distance between them. 

Faris straightened, instead, bringing Lenna to stability in the process. It took every ounce of willpower she had to suppress her desires. Worst bloody timing.

 _Oh **come on**_ , Syldra grumbled, emphasizing his disgust with her refusal to take advantage of the opportunity he presented her with a shrill _sreee_. _**My** people take less time than this, and we have rituals_. 

The way Lenna's breath caught in her throat and her hands tensed around Faris' upper arms assured her that she'd heard Syldra, too. That cute little blush flared to life across her pale cheeks, and…Spirits, but the sweet young lady felt like a perfect fit in Faris' arms. The subtle scent of Lenna's perfume was very nearly irresistible. Her cabin wasn't far, and Lenna hadn't pushed her away, and—

Faris grit her teeth and stepped back, instead. They really didn't have time for this. They'd be at the canal's gate in half an hour at this pace. The pincher-like spits of land leading to it were already visible.

As she looked away to avoid addressing the topic, Lenna took a stabilizing breath and tried to tuck her hair back into its bun. "I should, ah, prepare and review the magic scrolls." 

With that, she turned on her heel and trotted down the steps as fast as she could manage with the ship in motion. 

_If we get through this canal unscathed, I'm telling her tonight_ , Faris thought to her soul's brother. She didn't articulate _what_ she'd tell Lenna; Syldra knew her well enough to know what she's implying most of the time. 

He didn't bother pulling his head out of the water and blew a spout instead that sprayed water on the forecastle. It was relief and amusement and a touch of frustration at her dithering. _**Finally.**_

⁂

Worst thing about having no long-term memory: it was like walking about newly blinded, without even a stick to help feel out his path. Galuf had disjointed images, feelings, scraps of words here and there, but none of it meant a thing without context. Damned inconvenient, usually. Hell of an annoyance otherwise, when there was a hint of memory that might reveal itself had he only the key to uncovering it. 

At this point, Galuf acknowledged the frustration, if just in his head, and let it go. No point in dwelling on it. No need to worry the kids.

And they _were_ barely adults, at least to his eyes. Painfully young. The princess wasn't even out of her teens, and the boys weren't that much older. She and the pirate flitted around each other so much that even the dragon was fed up with them, and Galuf didn't fault the beast for trying to hurry them along. At least, that was what the uncharacteristic rocking of the boat felt like.

Something about that courtship made his heart ache, and he could only guess at why. A hint of a memory teased at the edges of his mind—a tall figure stumbling over a suspiciously-placed dragon's tail, long golden hair, laughter that revealed a snaggled eyetooth, and embarrassed attempts at covering it with hands hidden in riding gloves—and it was gone before he could figure out who the woman was to him. Maybe he was married, once. 

Something about that courtship felt unusual, too, and not just because of the vast gulf in social statuses between the two. They looked like they could be cousins. Which was nonsense; Galuf was fairly sure royal families kept close records of kin and wouldn't let a youth go astray like this. Perhaps it was because Scherwiz was the kind of pretty that usually resulted in _men_ vying for his affections, not women.

Not that it mattered, he supposed. None of his damned business either way. 

Aside from that one unexpected strike by dragon tail on the ship, the trip was uneventful. The princess and her pirate mooned over each other over dinner. Butz plopped himself into a coil of thick rope and whittled away at some broken belaying pin he cajoled out of the pirate, happy to ignore the outright adolescent flirting going on around him. 

"Doesn't it bother you?" Galuf asked.

Butz kept whittling at the pin, never looking up. Galuf supposed he had some sort of plan in mind for it, but right now it was just a stick that the boy was carving gouges into. "Nah. I mean, they're both attractive." The way Butz said it made Galuf's eyebrows go up in surprise. Not that there was anything wrong with liking both genders, he supposed. He was just surprised that Butz admitted to it well after the pub incident, and couldn't guess why _that_ surprised him. "But one of Faris' crewmen said he only likes women, so that's right out. And Lenna's a princess. Definitely out. Besides, did you see her staring at those dancers?"

Plucking at his mustache, Galuf took a moment to think before responding. "She doesn't seem to mind staring at Faris the same way."

"None of us minds staring at Faris that way," Butz muttered. He paused, looked over the pin in mild disapproval of his work, and put his knife back in its sheath. "But either way, I'm not up for being tied down to a relationship right now. They're welcome to it."

Butz hauled himself out of the coil of rope with an ease Galuf envied, dusted shavings off of his clothes, and tossed the pin into the middle of the coil. His bright blue eyes glanced over Galuf, making him feel rather like he was being examined. "What's bothering you about it?"

"Don't right know," Galuf admitted. He was, at least, thankful that Butz could tell something was off. "Aren't green eyes rare?"

The youth blinked at him, glanced back past him and towards the ship's wheel, and returned his attention to him in a way that assured Galuf that Butz knew what he was getting at. "Not among dragonriders. Lenna probably got them from her father; my Pa said he's the last of the Dragon Knights' Association still with a dragon. Faris' eyes might have changed when he bonded to Syldra. It's not like they grew up together, right?"

"Perhaps."

Galuf left it at that, as the great gates of the canal loomed closer by the minute. Besides, if _he_ couldn't put a finger on his misgivings, what was the point of talking it over with someone young enough to be his grandson?

The ship came to a stop with a jolt that suggested that the dragon was right under them. It then eased forward until the tip of the bowsprit thumped against the iron leaves locked tightly together. Embedded as they were in the rock wall on either side, there was no getting through them without a key.

Not that they weren't going to try. The pirate joined him and Butz at the bowsprit, with the princess shadowing his steps. 

"Don't have powder enough for the guns, and I'll not have Syldra hurt himself ramming it." Faris' voice was gruff as he stared up at the imposing gates. "Can't get to the hinges from this side, neither."

Lenna's voice was soft and soothing. "You did more than we could have hoped for."

Galuf harrumphed, hoping that would remind the lovebirds that they had important matters at hand. Not that he had any answers. 

Quietly, as if he had been waiting for his cue, Butz glanced from one Light Warrior to the other. With a decisive nod to himself, he climbed up the bowsprit and pulled a length of iron from under his cloak. The knobby thing he eased into the keyhole, turned, and there were faint noises of pins clicking into place as he unlocked the gates. Then the boy gripped one of the forestays tight with one hand, drew out the key with the other, and shoved hard against the gates.

The gates swung open grudgingly, but only because of the water resistance against the grates below the waterline. Galuf wasn't sure _why_ he appreciated how well balanced the gate leaves were to need nothing but the push of a human hand to open.

"Butz," Galuf started as the youth walked more carefully down the bowsprit and back to the forecastle deck, "Where on earth did you get the key to the canal?"

With what might have been a guilty smile, Butz stuck the key back in his belt. "Doesn't matter where I got it. Let's go."

Before Galuf could say a thing in response, Butz joined Faris as they strode to the wheel. Lenna watched after them with open speculation on her face. "But Zokk said he lost it…"

"Doesn't matter." Whatever Butz did that night to get the key, Galuf wasn't sure it was his place to ask. Let the boy have his secrets. 

⁂

Faris hated this bloody canal and every damned monster in it. Given the chance, she'd have taken one of the narrow, sandy sea dragon passages that opened up when the tide was high enough. Would have unstepped the masts and used them as rollers for the ship and _hauled it herself_ if she had to. But no, Faris wasn't that lucky: the tides were too low, the spring's melt still trapped in mountain snowcaps and glaciers, and the moons still too far away. 

Whatever possessed the scholars to seal monsters up in it, she had no idea. Cakey-headed idiots, the lot of them. 

Drawn to women like sailors too long at sea, the monsters that managed to escape Syldra's teeth and electrical pulses swarmed the ship. Keeping so close to Lenna that it appeared that they were simply attacking Faris because she was in the way helped maintain her illusion. Their ridiculously strong arms and barbed suckers tried to prise Faris' armor open if she wasn't fast enough with her sword. At least the frenzy kept everyone too busy to notice.

The sharp slap of octraken arms on flesh and a pained cry behind her warned Faris that one of the men wasn't quick enough. She slammed the bottom edge of her shield into the sucker trying to get close to her and turned to slice at the octraken's arms. 

Though severed from the monster, the arms still acted independently. They coiled around any part of Lenna they could get to. The barbs scraped her skin raw, the sharper ones drawing blood and tearing cloth. 

Faris sneered in disgust at the sight of writhing masses of bleeding, rubbery arms. Butz turned, looked properly contrite, and carved and peeled them off of Lenna as another octraken slithered its way across her deck to attack her. 

"Don't slip again," she snapped at Butz. Not bothering to wait for his reaction, she spun to cleave the octraken in two before it got its arms into her armor.

Had she the time to think on the matter, she might have grumbled over the ichor and still-moving severed parts all over her deck. The clean-up would be a nightmare.

Two suckers tried to succeed where the octraken failed. The first she managed to push back with her shield while she hewed at the second. One of Lenna's well-aimed bolts of lightning fried the one at her shield within seconds of being noticed. Faris would have to thank her properly later.

A lull in the battle came after Galuf tore the last of them apart with his bare hands and tossed the monster off the ship. They leaned against mast and railing for rest, and none of them looked too closely at the ichor staining her ship. It was gonna be hell to scrub off. 

Thankfully, she had foresight enough not to bind her vest so tightly this time around. Not that the knight's armor revealed anything. She breathed deeply regardless of the rising stench of death around them, allowing her body to recover from its exertions as it was meant to. 

Some handful of minutes into their rest, Lenna went around with her white mage's shard to heal. Butz and Galuf only received minor wounds as retaliation for attacking the monsters; she didn't spend nearly as much time healing them as she had to spend on herself. Then she stopped at Faris and looked over her with a critical eye.

Her stomach might have contracted with the realization that Lenna might have figured her out, despite the armor protecting her from the worst of the onslaught. Enthusiastic octraken and sucker arms had slammed into her face several times, and she had a hell of a black eye forming already. 

If Lenna suspected anything about her secret, she said nothing. Her free hand reached up, cool fingers caressing along the curve of Faris' cheek. The cure spell followed, easing the aches and pains of battle with a soothing wash of magic that left behind a vague sense of well-being.

Rather than move on, Lenna stayed to look up at her. The fingers traced Faris' jaw and she wondered, faintly, if the men were watching. "Did you know that _Faris_ means 'knight' in old Jacolean?"

"Can't say it came up in my studies." Try as she might, Faris couldn't keep the little bit of fondness she had for the dear young woman out of her voice. She tried to tease, instead. "Something about not having any schooling."

The winsome smile she got in response might have melted any resistance she had left. "I'm sure you had much better things to do with your time."

Galuf cleared his throat loudly. Faris was tempted to kick him for interrupting.

 _Whirlpool dead ahead_ , Syldra said before she could return her attention to Lenna. Exhaustion that wasn't _hers_ reverberated through their bond with such strength that her knees might have buckled if she hadn't been propped up against the mast.

Any whirlpool strong enough for Syldra to notice wasn't natural. Swearing under her breath, Faris gathered her remaining energy to run towards the stern. Bloody armor weighed her down, slowed her pace. _Fuck this canal specifically_.

Syldra might have laughed had he the energy. He sent her a fond, wordless thought, instead. It lifted her spirits, if not the armor. By the time her hand settled on a well-worn handle, she almost felt as if it would all turn out right. 

Then Syldra's attentions to her stilled, diminishing the anodyne effects of their bond. As tired as he was, he couldn't raise that barrier between them in time to protect her from the full force of his memories. _It's him._

Feelers like whips lashing in the water. Scale-shredding claws. Bright, baleful eyes. His name was Karlabos, and he feasted on young sea dragons and ripped apart ships until he was sealed away hundreds of winters ago.

"What the hell—" Butz exclaimed from the fore of the ship. Lenna joined him near the bowsprit, but whatever she said was lost in the roar of the unnatural whirlpool. 

The wheel suddenly jerked in her hands. Then the ship shuddered and groaned as the great monster grabbed it from beneath. Her stomach sank as she tugged the handles in either direction, recognizing the tactic as her own. Just her luck. "Rudder's not responding." 

"It's sucking us in!" Galuf, close as he was, sounded like he was further away. He joined her to help move the wheel, but even he didn't have the strength to fight a monstrous whirlpool.

A sickening release of tension warned her that something yielded, but she had to try. The wheel suddenly gave in to her yanking and spun to a stop from the force. They were at the mercy of the currents.

 _We'll get past and careen the ship_ , Faris thought, and perhaps more frantically than her wont. She could piece together a new rudder; the ship's carpenter taught her that much. It would turn out all right. _Didn't apprentice with Deniz for a year for naught_. 

The ship listed dangerously to its side as it surrendered to the whirling currents. Fate was clearly determined to bite her in the ass for years of using the same damned scheme in her hunts. 

Giving up on control of the ship, Faris made her way to join the others at the forecastle, careful to mind the extra weight of the armor as she tried to balance on the currents-tossed deck.

As they drew to the center of the whirlpool, Syldra called a challenge. "Syldra, what is it?!" But she knew, deep inside, that he couldn't take a battle in his condition. _Let us, my love_. She felt his resistance to the notion for a moment, but he relented.

"Something's coming!" Butz brandished his sword, still dark with ichor, and didn't have long to wait.

The beast shot itself out of the water and onto her once-spotless weather deck. At least it had the wherewithal to bring some water with it to wash out the butchered parts and any ichor that hadn't sunk into her boards. 

Faris paid little attention to anything after that. All she cared about was blocking the flailing feelers and sharp claws. All she cared about was wedging a blade in somewhere under the spiny armor. She kept an ear out for Lenna's lightning bolts, but otherwise focused on the joints.

Smashed the shield's rim into leg joints when not blocking. The sword she sunk deep into the body at every opportunity and nearly got shaken off each time for her troubles. Thank the Spirits she spent her childhood among the rigging; keeping a hold onto something was second nature and she had little problem finding handholds. Galuf had little problem making his own handholds, using the monk's strength in addition to his own to rip open bits of carapace. 

"Lightning!" 

Faris ducked back to let the monster take the full force of the magic. It tried to counter with magic of its own, which Lenna ducked and Butz wasn't fast enough to dodge. He doubled over, wheezed as it knocked the wind from him, and countered with some spell he picked up from a monster somewhere. Galuf took its distraction as opportunity to climb over it and slam his fists between its eyes; Faris, following suit, wedged her sword's point in the soft spot between spiny plates of armor near its neck and thrust with all her might. The resultant spasm nearly threw her off.

Whoever struck the final blow, she couldn't guess. The monster skittered away on its few working legs and broke her rail to escape to the still-swirling depths. 

_1,500 gil, materials and labor_ , Faris thought, benumbed by the battle. _3,000 for the rudder and tiller. 50 a day for shipyard docking. Where the hell do I get the money?_

The ship jolted suddenly, pushed away from the whirlpool's pull with great effort by her soul's brother. At some point during the battle, he must have slipped out of the harness. He called encouragement to them from the middle of the whirlpool, as if they could even do anything without him.

"Syldra," she called back. _Get out of there. We've not far to go and you can rest—_

A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her side, as if she was being ripped open by Karlabos' claws. Another pierced her/his stomach. The mental barrier Syldra was usually so good about keeping between them to protect her was gone. 

"It's still alive!" Butz's voice, from… somewhere. Swathed as she was in the pain, it seemed to come from far away. "It's trying to take Syldra with it!"

The pain was overwhelming. It flared out from where their flesh was pierced, burned like wildfire as it raced through their nerves. Their body jerked and spasmed as the whipping antennae lashed against skin rubbed raw by the unsecured harness. Driven by instinct alone, Faris was unaware of a thing as she climbed… something, she didn't care. Her sword was in her hand; she just had to swim over and finish the job—

Two sets of hands grabbed her, pulled her back. _No, no, no_ was all she could think; her head felt aflame from the pain. She tried to shove them off. Snapped at them when her strength wasn't enough. "Let go! Let go! Syldra!"

Syldra called to them, urging them to leave, and he was dragged below the surface. Claws ripped straight down his belly, opening him up. He waited, waited, waited despite the pain, until the current drew the ship far enough away. With a body-wide jerk, he released all his stored electricity, frying the monster determined to eat him. 

It was too much. Caught up in the psychic backlash of their bond severing so abruptly and driven half-mad with pain, Faris collapsed in a dead faint.

⁂

It was night when Faris returned to consciousness. The pain was gone, but so was half her soul. She felt… empty, gutted, half-dead in a way she never had before. Her thoughts she tossed out like a net, searching and searching for some sign of him. Some response. Anything.

He hadn't even said goodbye.

Upon noticing that she was awake, Lenna joined her at the stern. For a long time she said nothing. She simply waited, offering silent support should Faris feel inclined to take it. A shame Faris couldn't bring herself to so much as move. 

Finally, in a brave effort to lift her mood, Lenna spoke in a voice so gentle it was almost heartbreaking. Her hand cupped Faris' cheek; some small part of Faris wanted to chide her for being so familiar with someone so far beneath her. "Faris…surely Syldra is still alive."

Were Lenna anyone else, or were she not so sincere, Faris might have struck her for trying to soothe her with platitudes. Shouted. Lashed out somehow. Faris pulled away, instead, to sit with an awkward clunking of armor at the rail, legs dangling over the edge of the deck like a child's. To watch the sea as the currents drew them to the inevitable end of her career.

She couldn't respond to Lenna, because there were no words for the depth and breadth of her loss. Half of her was mutilated and likely killed by an oversized lobster. Her retirement funds were gone to pay her people. And now Merrick's ship— _her_ ship after her guardian died—was on its way to its final resting place. 

At five years old, Faris had been brought aboard, named, and raised in her trade. There had never been a choice elsewise. Merrick taught her how to hide her sex on a ship full of men, how to run rigs, how to lie and cheat and steal and _survive_. He had been a hard man, and a right bastard a lot of the times, but he made the ship a home for her.

Without wind, the currents would take the ship to where they took all derelict ships: an awful place full of sharp rocks under the water that would punch holes through her hull, where one joined the undead if they weren't quick enough or clever enough to escape a siren's song. Her _home_ would join all the other wrecks, and few risked salvaging at the Ship's Graveyard.

 _Fuck_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Language notes:  
> \- Faris' title is actually おかしら. While this can translate to "captain" in the way a leader of a mining team is a captain, it's a lot more informal than the implications of "captain" in English. It's more... the title for a leader by the gang. Alternatively, I've used "boss" to reflect this.  
> \- Lenna uses the honorific -さん for Butz, which is formal and respectful. The lack of it regarding Faris is more likely to be a reflection of Faris' status as a glorified thief, but this is my fic and I choose to go with implied friendly-style intimacy.  
> \- The book Basic Knowledge uses "thieves" rather than exclusively "pirates" to describe Faris' followers at a couple of points. Also, their numbers run in the hundreds. I'm running with the implication that she got to become a kingpin at some point, and that's reflected here.
> 
> Oh hey! Are you a woman or nonbinary person who loves women? Or just prefer femslash/wlw/nblw ships? The Final Fantasy Lily League Discord server is looking for members. [Hit me up for an invite](https://ajora.dreamwidth.org/profile).


	3. In that awful water-land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where unrecorded names and navies rust, and untold hopes and anchors rot; where in her murderous hold this frigate earth is ballasted with bones of millions of the drowned; there, in that awful water-land, there was thy most familiar home. - Moby Dick

Without wind, dragon, or even a working rudder that might have helped Faris cut across to another current, the _Maelstrom_ drifted on the eastbound currents through a night, a dreary day, and another night. Faris tried to keep herself busy, and most times it worked as a distraction, but the weight of her grief settled on her shoulders when she allowed herself to stop and rest. 

She had entirely too much free time when everything that could be done on a ship with too few pairs of hands was already done by midday. Once she'd gotten the men to understand how to set up bricks on deck and use the brazier to cook, how to hammer and soak stockfish for stew, and how to prepare turnips for cooking, she retreated to her cabin.

Lenna stayed by her side, trying to provide quiet support should she need it. While Faris mostly kept at a distance from her out of some regard for the princess' honor, she couldn't bring herself to dissuade Lenna from accompanying her. 

Though she knew how it looked to let Lenna follow her into her cabin, and certainly knew that no blame would ever be placed on the sweet princess for allowing herself to be led astray by a dastardly pirate, neither Butz or Galuf looked interested in their growing closeness. Thankfully. The only thing that seemed to keep her from wanting to take the next steps with Lenna was the spirit-crushing grief. Lenna's presence helped ease the weight of it all, and she didn't even have to say anything.

"You don't have to tidy up," Faris muttered dully from her bunk. She watched Lenna organize the things in her desk, all too aware of how muted her senses felt without Syldra to enhance them. Any other time she might have been bothered by the intrusion, or concerned that the sweet princess might happen upon things that might offend her delicate sensibilities, but she could barely even muster up the wherewithal to _care_.

Maybe she'll burn the logbooks and ledgers later, once she stopped feeling sorry for herself. She didn't think Lenna was the type of person to use them against her or her crew, but she didn't want to leave them behind for some scavenger to find, either.

"Oh, I don't mind." Lenna sorted through bits and pieces Faris had shoved into a drawer at some point or another, only to forget them shortly afterwards. She now had them grouped into little piles. Coins in one pile, spare buttons in another, pretty shells and pebbles in another. Faris wasn't close enough to guess at the rest. "It's interesting." 

Faris' reply was little more than a grunt of acknowledgement, but she left Lenna to it and rolled from her back to her side. Damned if she knew what Lenna saw in her drawer full of rubbish, but she seemed happy enough with the busywork. 

When it seemed like Lenna finished sorting out the rubbish drawer, she moved on to the drawer full of eight-pagers, pamphlets, play and opera bills, and other paper miscellanea picked up from Crystals only knew for sure. Nonsense, a lot of it, but Faris had a tendency to keep whatever she got her hands on. Her old minder might say it's because she lost everything else as a child and kept things she picked up to compensate for those feelings of impermanence. Faris rather thought her old minder read too much theory and speculation on _the human condition_ , whatever that meant, and not enough entertainment. 

"Careful with that lot. It's all filth."

Lenna paused in picking through coarsely-bound eight-pagers and sorting them out from everything else. As if taking Faris' words as a dare, she started flipping right through them. Bawdry satire, all of it, and usually the sort of nonsense passed around for laughs at the docks. Her expression barely changed as she flipped through one after the other, though her cheeks might have gone pink a few times. "The artists have never seen Queen Karnak a day in their lives, have they?"

"Not likely." Faris managed a shadow of a smile at the thought; the queen of Karnak was a popular subject for those things, mostly because she loved starting up scandals and watching the chaos that resulted. "You're not offended?"

"Goodness, no." An easy grin spread across Lenna's face as she placed the eight-pager she was leafing through into a growing stack. In the soft lamplight, she was gorgeous. "It's all so ridiculous that it can't be taken seriously."

A bit smitten by the sight of Lenna going through her things, Faris allowed herself a moment just to take it all in. Light hair escaped Lenna's bun and curled around her lovely face, her kindly green eyes turned back to things Faris should have thrown out long ago and sparkled at amusing nonsense she came across, and… "Stop being so perfect, I may have to make off with you."

"I'm not perfect," Lenna began, and paused to press her lips thin against what seemed to be an unpleasant memory. "I think I prefer these to the sort of things my cousin writes."

"Hm?"

Rather than answer Faris immediately, Lenna set the papers down and folded her hands in her lap. Made a conscious effort to make herself comfortable for a subject that made her pale with nerves. "It's a bit of a story, but… A few years ago, my cousin Alwyn—king of Walse—wanted me to visit and meet one of his sons. I wrote back and said that I would be happy to visit, but I wasn't looking for a suitor. And, because I was thirteen and no one in my life had ever told me not to, I added that I liked other girls and only other girls, so if he had likeminded daughters, I would much rather meet them. He, of course, wrote back that I was young and would likely change my mind when I met the right man, but he would be happy to indulge me."

"You'd be surprised how often girls get that kind of response," Faris replied blandly. It was never something she herself had been subject to, but she knew the women of the Metaxas brothel well enough to know it was a common refrain.

"It doesn't surprise me at all." The smile Lenna flashed her was thin and humorless. "I went ahead out of diplomacy and goodwill. Most of Alwyn's family was kind to me, but one of his daughters-in-law saw the letter and disapproved. She would snipe behind my back about everything I did—how I wasn't _really_ a girl with my hair so short, how boyish I was, how I didn't live up to the standards expected of nobility—and I did everything I could to try to please her. It hurt, especially so close to my mother's death, but nothing I did made up for that slight."

Backbiters were a gil a dozen and they existed almost equally among all genders, so Faris was certainly sympathetic. She'd had to deal with her own as a child, and thankfully tossed that lot out of the circle of her protection if she discovered it happening among her own people now. No such luck with fellow nobles, she suspected. "There's no pleasing that sort, y'know."

Lenna's smile widened, likely with hard-earned experience. "I know. It gets worse, too. I vented to a friend I'd made of one of Alwyn's younger children, which she overheard and exploded to the King himself about. Dear cousin Tesni has been publishing pot-shots at me ever since."

"Publishing?" Faris' eyebrows might have shot up in surprise. At least _her_ lot tended not to be educated or powerful enough to pull that nonsense off. The most she had to deal with were petty complaints muttered in bars that could be ignored as drunkenness, especially once she had a dragon to intimidate—

 _Oh_ , right. She's got no dragon anymore. Faris gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to curl up on herself again. 

"She publishes a newsletter on all of the latest fashions and social events in all the courts, and her audience is full of other noblewomen. In one column or another, she usually manages to work in snippy comments about crude young girls like me." It was said with what Lenna probably intended as good humor, but the undercurrent of hurt was unmistakable. 

The pieces weren't hard to put together: a girl just entering adolescence soon after her mother's death, one who said something thoughtless to someone else as a reaction to hurtful comments and was overheard. A woman old enough to marry into the royal family, one petty enough to take the _overheard_ hurt comments of a child personally. The implications of "publishes" told Faris that this had been going on for years, a realization that incensed her and took her mind off of her loss for the moment. "The fuck kind of harpy targets someone for six whole years?"

"It's nothing." The words were light, but Lenna's expression when she turned her attention back to the eight-pagers was shuttered. 

It clearly wasn't _nothing_ , but Faris reckoned that Lenna was taking the high road in this nonsense. Faris supposed it made sense, as the situation reflected more poorly on this cousin-in-law than on Lenna, but she knew well enough that wounds inflicted in childhood lasted longest. 

"Your family sounds delightful." Her voice might have been dripping with sarcasm.

"Appearance-obsessed inbreds on one side, madmen and women on the other." The wan smile returned, but Faris liked it more than the blank, shuttered expression it replaced. "It's not so bad."

"Probably not, if we managed to get a jewel like you out of it."

Lenna's smile warmed to her flattery, but her lack of rebuttal suggested to Faris that she probably didn't want to worsen her mood. Rather than reply, she turned her attention back to sorting out her things.

Having nothing better to do, besides making a conscious effort of _not_ thinking about the gaping hole where half her soul used to be, Faris drifted somewhere between sleeping and waking. The pitching of the ship as it bobbed along on east-bound currents was almost typical of most nights spent at sea; if she didn't think about the silence, she might convince herself that it was all a bad dream.

Not that her efforts helped any. Lenna was still sorting through her trash by the time she opened her eyes again. There was still no sign of Syldra's presence. As it seemed rude not to keep the princess entertained, Faris tried for another attempt at conversation. "Why do you think he's still alive?"

Lenna paused to glance at her, likely trying to figure out how much to say. When she finally responded, she set the papers aside to fold her hands in her lap. "When humans and dragons become partners, there's a psychic bond that forms. Sometimes it's weak because their connection isn't strong enough. Sometimes it's so powerful that the human can't live without the dragon. Syldra is a lot larger than most sky dragons, and his thinking is clear enough to share his memories. I think, if he truly died, you'd be catatonic. Or insane. Like half my family over a certain age."

The reminder of Faris' lack of education might have annoyed her at any other time. She couldn't be bothered to care. Lenna's words matched up with bits and pieces she had picked up over the years—some big war decades ago, sky dragons slaughtered as retaliation, unresponsive old dragon knights dragged to pubs by their kin who end up dumped by the fireplace, dragon skulls one might trip over if they ventured outside of Carwen, her guardian's eternal grudge against Tycoon on account of him losing his family in the war. 

Though she felt like she should respond with something, express her thanks for Lenna's attempt at easing her mind, Faris did eventually drift off to sleep. Vaguely was she aware of the scrape of chair legs against wooden boards and her covers pulled over her, but she went back to sleep soon afterwards.

⁂

If Butz's reckoning wasn't completely off, it was early in the month of Xandikos, if he was going by the Tycoonian calendar. Or the third month of the new year, if he went by the dry old Lonkan standard. It was hard to keep these things straight sometimes. 

It's only been a little less than a week and already he felt like he'd been with these people for too long. Typically, when he did have to travel with others, he took his traveling companions to the nearest safe spot, made sure they were okay, and went on his way. He'd go his own way entirely, except he found it impossible to ignore people in distress.

Never been in a situation like this, though. It's not _just_ someone in distress, it's the entire world. For the sake of the world, he set aside his meandering journey back to Lix, ignored the closed-in feeling of being around the same people when he was so used to going without, and disregarded the little discomforts of working together with people. 

At least they didn't ask for much. Lenna went out of her way to include him, sure, but most of the time she spent with Faris. Faris, even when he did feel sociable, didn't actively seek companionship and was just as happy to grunt at him when he wasn't barking out orders. Galuf, well…

Galuf was an odd one, even for a group like theirs. Lenna couldn't identify the crest on his signet ring. Faris' remark on Galuf being a military man at some point lingered in the back of Butz's mind sometimes, especially when he could lift heavier things than Butz could manage. Butz couldn't place his accent at all, and he'd been everywhere. There were relics of a much older form of Crescent Islander in his speech, which made no sense because Galuf didn't look like an Islander. 

Not that it mattered. Galuf's memory was so full of holes that Butz found himself frequently explaining things that anyone should have known. Most of the time Galuf was content to let Butz explain, and other times he muttered that his names for things didn't sound right. 

"It's the Bandersnatch," Butz said as they laid back on the freshly-polished weather deck and named the constellation Galuf pointed to.

Galuf's moustache shifted in that way it always seemed to when he disagreed. "You're sure about that? Looks like a couple of fish to me."

Though he took another look at the constellation, it still didn't look like fish. Not that it meant anything. Every culture had its own constellations, if they weren't borrowing ideas from other cultures. He conceded the point, instead. "Yeah, you might be right."

Before they could get any further in disagreeing over stars, Lenna stepped out of the door leading to the officers' quarters with a stack of papers and books in her arms. A bit more of her hair might have escaped her bun, but otherwise she looked no worse for wear. Had the battle not gone so terribly, he might have been surprised.

"How's Faris?" Butz felt like he'd asked the question at least twenty times already, and the answer never changed. Rotten luck seemed to hang over their quest like a pall; he just hoped it'd let up sometime soon.

Lenna didn't bother with reassurance. "As well as can be expected."

 _Better than expected_ , Butz thought. He'd seen enough veterans of the former king of Tycoon's war to know that a rider losing his dragon usually also lost his mind. At least Faris was _here_ enough to attend to his own needs. 

Disregarding the men sprawled on the planks, Lenna strode towards the cold brazier and array of firebricks they didn't bother to take back to the hold. Her load she dumped in the brazier and—

"Whoa, hang on," Butz started as he got up to join her. Galuf, probably wanting a distraction just as much, followed his example. "Whatcha burning?"

Lenna paused in the middle of the Fire spell. "Records. Faris doesn't want the crew endangered if someone found them."

Butz's hand lashed out to grab a promising bit of roughly-made paper. No fancy parchment for thieves, even given the importance of the document. And it did look important.

"Hey, Galuf, bring that lamp, wouldya?"

Though he grumbled, Galuf uncovered the oil lamp and joined them. The yellow lamplight fell over the sheaf, allowing them to better make out the letters. 

> _5/15/814 — Articles of Agreement for those aboard the Maelstrom, under the command of F. Scherwiz, B. Inomoto serving as quartermaster, encompassing the year's expedition. Voted and agreed upon by all signators are the following:  
>  1\. Every man has a vote in all affairs; has equal title to all provisions seized, unless scarcity demands rationing.  
>  2\. The captain and quartermaster receive two shares of the prize; boatswain, pilot, and master gunner a share and half; other officers a share and quarter; all other crewmen one share. Prize assessed by quartermaster before disbursement.  
>  3\. Withholding of prize with worth of 20 gil or greater, withholding of valuable information, or theft from the Company, shall result in marooning.  
>  4\. No child or woman is allowed among the Company. Crew discovered disguising them will be marooned. Rape of women and children, on ship or ashore, is punishable by forty lashes and marooning. Severe offenders may be fed to the dragon.  
>  5\. All crew must keep their arms in proper order.  
>  6\. Gambling, striking fellow crew, and shirking of duties forbidden. Quartermaster decides appropriate punishment.  
>  7\. Cowardice in battle will be punished as the quartermaster and crew sees fit.  
>  8\. Should a crewman be injured in the course of battle, compensation is as follows: 400 gil for loss of joint; 800 for loss of limb, 1000 for loss of eye. Injured parties may stay aboard as long as they see fit. In the event of death, 2000 gil and the decedent's share of the prize will be given to their partner or parents._

__

__

__Then there was a long list of names. Some shared the same handwriting next to a splotch of ink; no surprise there, because not everyone could write. Given that Faris seemed to have trouble making his _f_ and _s_ distinct, it was clear who signed for the men who couldn't sign for themselves.

"I'll be," Galuf started. "Didn't know pirates had laws."

Once their curiosity seemed satisfied, Lenna sniffed and pulled the sheet from Butz's hands. She set it aflame with a spell and dropped it in the brazier to light up every other bit of incriminating evidence before Butz could think to retrieve something else. 

A pity, but at least the fire kept them warm.

⁂

Everything about the Ships' Graveyard was dreary and forbidding. The fog was chilly, damp, and so thick that only the pale, wintry ghost of a sun glimmered through. Hints of masts and booms in the distance reached like blackened, skeletal fingers into the sky. The musty smell of rotting wood, canvas, and less savory things hung in the air and stuck to the back of the throat. Everything about the place felt muted and washed out, even the sluggish lap of the sea against the ships it claimed.

Faris woke with a throbbing headache and her teeth set on edge; the scraping and puncturing of the hull was something she hoped never to experience, not with her ship, and certainly was not something she wanted to wake up to. Felt rather like a death knell.

Bloody hell, what possessed her to join them around the brazier in the middle of the night? With her last bottles of whiskey, at that. Worse, why the hell did she end up letting the others drink it with her? Clearly wasn't in full possession of her faculties yet. 

"This is…?" Butz asked. Loudly. How _dare_ he drink her strongest spirits and be none the worse for wear.

Still fuzzy around the edges, Faris let the pain wash through her. Had to work her jaw a bit to get rid of the dryness in her mouth. "Ships' Graveyard." There was no question, simply because the weak current always delivered dead ships here. 

"A nest of the undead, created by the gathering of drifting ships," Lenna added softly, likely out of consideration for Faris' hangover. In the dismal fog that cloaked the graveyard like a formless funerary shroud, she shivered and rubbed at her upper arms. 

Galuf looked about, gimlet-eyed and uneasy, and grumbled. "In any case, let's get out of here."

"Provisions." Faris began, seizing control before anyone thought to just run off before preparing. Once she actually got up off the deck and moved, she was better able to think. "Best take our own. I've a few oilcloth seabags in the fo'c'sle—Lenna, grab 'em and stuff 'em with all you came aboard with. Galuf, sort through the stores and pack what you can in two seabags. We'll need at least a gallon of water per crew. There are empty wineskins in the stores. Butz, fill up a few."

_Syldra, am I forgetting—_

__

__

__The pain of loss hit like a punch to the stomach the moment she recalled _why_ she couldn't feel him at the back of her mind anymore. Grimacing, she swallowed down the bitterness that rose at the back of her tightening throat, disregarded the nails digging painfully into her palms as her hands curled into fists, and stalked back to her cabin. Too bloody hard to breathe in this fog. 

Didn't want to deal with anyone just then, anyway.

⁂

A palpable misery hounded their steps as they gathered their provisions, slung their sacks over their shoulders, and lowered themselves from Faris' ship to a fallen boom that allowed them to cross to the next ship over. It was a larger, three-masted ship, surely a flagship repurposed for piracy. So damaged was it that much of its midship weatherdeck was submerged, leaving only the castles and floating fragments above the water. Upon recognizing it, a fresh wave of grief swept over Faris. 

"Thought the bloody bastard retired." Faris' voice was dull and tight. Lenna wanted to reach out and comfort him, but she wasn't sure if it was her place. "Hadn't heard from him since…"

"Who?" Butz asked in that open, guileless way of his. The oil lamp he carried swayed as he walked. Lenna didn't think it was appropriate to ask, but maybe answering would help Faris process this new blow to his spirit.

Faris' shoulders hunched, though the tension in them eased when Lenna placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Hopcyn Cofresi. Made captain not long after me, but he always got on my case about my age. T'is _Ana_ , his flagship. Sloop-of-war he stole from Walse. Said he was gonna retire couple of years back."

Looking around, it became clear that Cofresi hadn't retired in peace. Jagged holes were punched into the hull by cannonballs and two of the masts splintered into uneven halves. Dark stains splattered across the decks as gruesome marks of a battle gone poorly. If the legends were true, the crew might still be rattling around just out of her field of vision. 

Within the span of a couple of stabilizing breaths, Faris' resolve hardened. "Might still be pickings aboard. Step lively now. Boards look addled. You'll not want falling through them."

The small party followed Faris' lead onto the ship and into what might have once been a lovely stateroom, stepping where he stepped and pausing when he held up a hand to test the weight-bearing capacity of a dubious-looking bit of planking. He moved on the creaking, dangerously unstable boards with a surety and grace the rest of them lacked—Lenna rather thought he'd be a wonderful dancer.

Not that it was an appropriate time to think such things. 

Wakened by their arrival, the rattle and scrape of bones on wood sounded in the distance. Lenna's grip tightened on the flail they found along the way, waiting for the inevitable as Faris' hand closed around a doorknob. It turned, but the wood was so warped that he had to kick the door to get it to open. 

The creaking, groaning stairs led to what Lenna supposed might have been the gun deck, though the guns had long since gone missing. Probably taken before the ship was set adrift by whichever party did away with the _Ana_ 's crew. The pale yellow light of Butz's lamp did little to illuminate the chthonic gloom as they descended the stairs, and did even less for Lenna's nerves.

No sooner had Galuf stepped onto the floor than sharp, rapid drumming upon the boards approached and a flash of steel swung wildly into the circle of their light. Faris deflected it with his leather shield, following quickly with a sweep of his own sword. Butz, still favoring the shard of the blue mage, took to Faris' side with his own sword and shield at the ready. Galuf placed himself at Lenna's side to cover their backs. Lenna clung tighter to her flail. 

A skeleton rattled into her sight, its light-yellowed bones dry and picked over by whatever beasts favored these shoals. The skeleton shuffled, swayed mindlessly towards her even as the others were busy. Her breath shallowed; she had to remind herself that it was spoiled magic that caused these undead husks, nothing more. The dead didn't typically rise out of their graves.

"Life's refreshing breeze," Lenna began, her words growing stronger the further along she got in the spell, "blow with vigor! Cure!"

The spell seemed to stun the abomination. At least long enough for her to swing her flail around and through the newly-friable bones. Heartened, she stepped back and—

And backed up against Faris' back. Lenna pulled away quickly, stammered her apologies in the expectation that he'd snap at her the way he did to Butz and Galuf sometimes.

"No matter," he said, then paused as his eyes fell on the pile of shattered bones. Something about him softened as he flashed her a quick smile. "Nice job."

Lenna didn't have much time to dwell on the warm flush she got from Faris' praise. Another skeleton shuffled through the remains of his comrade. The Cure spell came more quickly, and she didn't hesitate to follow up with a swing of the flail. 

Again. And again. Every time it seemed like they might make it the rest of the way across the deck unmolested, more such monsters accosted them and had to be beaten back. It felt like an eternity before they hit a stopping point.

Before them was a swath of deck so damaged that fragments of broken wood floated on the surface of the water. The only way through would be to swim across to the stairs on the other side. Lenna tried not to shiver—she didn't want to swim in what was undoubtedly filthy water, but they couldn't go back and waste their progress. 

Faris suddenly went still at the sight, his back ramrod-straight. "Pass through here?" he asked in a voice that was surprising in its uncertainty. It sounded higher, too, but surely Lenna was mistaken. Then he hissed and his voice dropped back to its usual tenor; "We'll get _soaked_."

A pin might have been heard dropping in the silence that followed. Perplexed, Lenna looked at the water glittering in the lamplight, then back at the pirate captain. It didn't match up. He had a sea dragon, surely he was used to swimming with Syldra. 

Unless…

Blinking, Lenna wondered why she hadn't seen it before. The knife hadn't drawn blood when she stuck him in her surprise. His clothes were layered and topped with a heavy felted greatcoat that would have flattened his chest. Likely he had padding around his waist to hide his figure. She never noticed a stubble because he never had one. The lowered center of gravity that allowed him to keep balance better than most on a pitching ship. Syldra's memory of a girl.

Her cousin, Queen Polymja of Karnak, employed such people regularly. The captain of her guard, for one, was born with the anatomy usually considered female but was raised as a boy to serve as heir to her father's estate and titles. Polymja's chief medical doctor was an old woman who only accepted herself as a woman after growing up as a boy. Among many others. 

But did Faris identify as a man, or were they simply making assumptions based on behavior?

 _She's mine. Don't hurt her._ Lenna wondered now if Syldra had been talking about Faris.

"What're you _saying?_ " Butz finally asked, breaking the silence. There was just a touch of exasperation under his confusion. " _Go on._ "

Faris' eyes narrowed at Butz, but _she? he?_ said nothing as they stepped grudgingly into the water. Wanting to provide some show of support, Lenna followed close behind. She wanted to say something as assurance, but the words wouldn't come and the first shock of cold water against her feet drove out all thoughts but consideration for the present. 

It wasn't until Faris dove down into the stairwell and Lenna was close to following suit that Butz extinguished his lamp, shoved it into the small oilcloth sack they'd chosen to protect it with, and dived in with a flourish that might have been comical. 

From then on out, they would have to fight in the dark. Lenna didn't like that prospect much.

⁂

Faris supposed, had she not been in a state of near-constant anxiety over being discovered, she might have better appreciated Lenna's resolution to the problem of swimming in the dark. Lenna swam up to the spare bits of air pockets around the ceiling, dug out the driest oakum she could find with her knife, set it alight with Fire spells on bits of floating wood she started collecting, and used the arrangement as floating candles until they burned through the oakum and guttered out. 

As it was, she was freezing, wet, and still hurting under the triple blows of losing Syldra, her ship, and her retirement funds. The old binding vest she wore for comfort's sake threatened to burst with the combination of physical strain and soaking of the fraying laces. It would be fine—she just needed to find a bit of privacy and switch the old vest with a new one she'd shoved into her oilcloth sack. 

If she repeated _it'll be fine_ in her head often enough, she might even believe it. 

In time, they escaped the hold and came upon the healer's rooms in the orlop. Not a luxury she had on a craft as small as hers. From the looks of it, it doubled as quarters for the minor officers—there were four beds, one for each minor officer on a ship of this size. There was space enough, too, should the healer need to set up cots to serve as extra bunks for the wounded. A small coil of rope sat on the fire bricks; it would have to do for warmth, unless there was a brazier hiding in one of the crates. Some sort of protection spell kept it safe and dry, and the air remained as fresh as it might have been on the day the _Ana_ set out from Carwen. 

"I'm _drenched_ ," Butz said, with perhaps more than a bit of gratitude for being able to stop and dry for a while. To emphasize his point, he wrung out the front tail of his tunic. Cold, rank water poured in a steady stream onto the deck until it slowed to a drip. 

Lenna's eyes darted around the room much as Faris' had. Then they lost focus as she used the white mage's shard to mentally test the wards. When she was satisfied, she turned her attention back to their mismatched group. "It seems safe here. Let's rest."

The others nodded, though Faris rather felt her head might fall off if she tried for more. Drawn by whatever intuition the white mage's shard gave her, Lenna shouldered her oilcloth sack and strode quickly to a closed door. The knob turned easily in her hand. Smiling in relief, Lenna glanced back at them. Faris might have imagined the way Lenna's eyes seemed to focus on her, but there was no mistaking the teasing tone in her voice. "I need to dry my clothes. Don't peek!"

With a creak, the door closed behind her. Were Faris not exhausted by the exertion of swimming with leather armor and weapons, or by the constant strain anxiety placed on her nerves, she might have considered taking the teasing tone as invitation. Instead, she slumped and dropped her things in a loud, unceremonious clatter. 

Butz and Galuf ignored her noise and moved like they were already at the point of knowing what the other was thinking. Butz pulled a handful of tinder off one crate and a large metal tray from the other as Galuf pulled the coil of rope off the fire bricks just enough for Butz to slide the tray under it. The rope was knocked off-center, filling in some of the emptiness in its coils. Butz threw his tinder within and lit it with the strike of his steel against a bit of flint that looked well-used.

Heedless of everyone else, Butz then started unbuckling his trousers and peeling off his tunic. Every muscle in Faris' body tensed as Galuf looked at her. She might have stepped back if she hadn't been frozen in place. "I'm… _fine_ ," she ground out from between clenched teeth. 

"What are you saying?" Galuf's surprise was almost tangible. "You'll catch a cold."

Dread and horror and half a dozen nameless fears spiked through Faris as the old man glanced at Butz. As if it had been some wordless command, Butz grinned innocently as he joined Galuf. As they stalked up to her. 

As they _tugged and yanked at her clothes_. 

"Stop," Faris managed to shout. Her heart raced like a small, trapped animal as her worst fears came to life. Her fists and elbows did nothing against a hardened soldier once he had her trapped. The soldier held her as the vagrant undid her belt and opened her greatcoat. "Stop it!"

Without the belt, her sashes tumbled to the ground. The men slackened their hold, distracted by the sight. It was just enough for her to jam her heel into the vagrant's instep and use the shock of pain to shove him away. It was just enough for her to swing back and jab her elbow into a tender part of the soldier's chest. 

It was the soldier who held her, and his grip didn't quite relent as he fell back. He grabbed her reflexively, tearing away her pendant and ripping the laces of her shirt. 

Lenna all but ran out of the room, alarmed by the noise. She paused, glanced over Faris, and turned a glare to where the vagrant had fallen. 

"What's wrong?" Vaguely Faris was aware of a dangerously neutral edge to Lenna's voice as she addressed him. 

The vagrant's gaze fell on Faris and his eyes widened. Faris realized, with a distinctly sinking sensation in her stomach and a flush of humiliation, that the binding vest had torn open, too. Fucking bastard was certainly getting an eyeful. _Shit_.

Rather than wait for the vagrant to stammer completely through his words, Lenna stalked to the soldier and grabbed the pendant and cravat from his fist. "Lenna, h-he's—"

"A woman!" The old soldier exclaimed, as if it was an affront to decency.

Like there was any _decency_ in yanking someone's clothes off without their say-so. "The hell's wrong with that?" she snapped back. 

Lenna stepped up to her to fold the pendant and cravat into her hand. Her touch lingered as a gentle weight. "But…why?"

With a sudden certainty, Faris realized that she _knew_. Or suspected, at least. She stuffed her pendant and cravat into a spare pocket and retreated closer to the fire to hunch her shoulders. Curl in on herself. _Hide_ herself, despite everything being torn. 

The flame burned high and hard, fueled by her inner turmoil. Only when she let herself expel bits of the humiliation and anger and fear with each breath did the blaze settle down. 

"When I was little, I was found and raised by pirates," she answered quietly, hoping it was enough.

Of course it wasn't enough. The vagrant took her answer and asked, prompting her for more; "So then you pretended to be a man?"

For a moment she considered not answering; it was none of his damned business. It was none of _anyone's_ damned business. But now she was stuck with them for however long this accursed quest would last, and that necessitated a certain amount of civility.

"Because being a woman among pirates is foolishness." Faris might have said it through gritted teeth. Being _mocked_ would be the least of her punishment for pretending to be a man among men whose opinions towards women ranged from disregard, to considering them subhuman, to outright hatred. 

"Hrmph," the old soldier began, after giving her a once-over that made her feel more like a piece of meat. The relief in his voice was unmistakable. She should have struck him a lot lower. "Thought for sure you were too beautiful to be a man!" 

Her jaw ached from the grinding of her teeth, and moreso at the mention of her _beauty_. As if something she had no control over _mattered_. As if it hadn't caused problem after problem for her growing up. She kept blades on her for a reason. "Still," she snapped. "Don't make a fool of me because I'm a woman!"

The vagrant made a few demurring sounds, likely out of discomfort. She couldn't care less about his comfort just then. At least he bothered to be ashamed of himself. 

"Right! Go to bed!"

With that, Faris stalked to one of the beds and let her greatcoat fall in a soggy heap at its side. Thankfully, the gloom beyond the bright fire's light shielded her from their eyes. She yanked open her oilcloth sack, pulled out dry clothes from the very bottom of the sack, and hung up what had gotten damp over the headboard and footer. With her back turned to them, she switched each bit of soggy clothes for things she could at least sleep in. 

As she slipped under the covers and willed herself to calm, she never thought to wonder why the fire responded to her moods. 

⁂

Lenna had no idea what time it must be when she woke up. She simply woke to the susurrus of someone getting out of bed, moving with deliberate caution to avoid waking anyone, and the crackling of the fire as it was fed. 

"We didn't mean anything by it," Butz had attempted to explain to Lenna after Faris stalked into the darkness. "It's just…guys just get a bit rough when we play around. If we'd known—"

"If you'd known, you would have treated Faris the way you treat me," Lenna responded quietly. She understood probably better than anyone could know; sometimes she missed wearing breeches and being able to roll down a hillside. Sometimes she missed how a summer breeze felt through close-cropped hair. "I don't think Faris would have appreciated it."

Galuf, who'd kept quiet and plucked at his moustache in thought, glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"Some men think it chivalrous to treat women like helpless, delicate dolls. Not all of us like it." Lenna's smile thinned, and she left it at that to collect Faris' damp clothes. 

Faris sat at the fire now, in clothes she must have pulled from her sack, and it seemed to _breathe_ with her. Her eyes were wary as Lenna approached, like she was expecting rebuke. 

Or _was_ Faris a she?

"I was a tomboy as a child," Lenna started as she sat primly nearby, though she missed when she could still get away with sitting on the floor cross-legged. "I wasn't really a boy, but my parents were indulgent and let me dress and act as I wished. Then my mother died and it felt like everyone around me expected me to grow up and act like a proper lady. It was irritating, but I went along with it."

Faris said nothing, choosing instead to nibble at a rice ball. When done, Faris washed it down with some rum she salvaged from the hold. "At least you got a choice."

Lenna softened her voice, hoping beyond hope that nothing she said would be taken in offense. "I know there are men who were assumed to be girls when they were born, based on their parts, and women who were assumed to be boys. And there are some people who are neither, or both. Are you…?"

"My guardian tried for ten years to get me to identify as a boy." Faris grimaced at whatever bad memories surfaced from those words, paused, and took another swig of rum. "Said it was easier to act the role if I believed it. But it's always been an act."

Lenna's heart might have skipped a beat. Dare she hope?

"I'm a woman, I suppose." The bottle of rum was set aside as Faris relaxed enough to talk to her. Faintly Lenna wondered if she would be so open had they not spent so much time together. "Never mattered much to me, aside from liking my own parts too much to want to change them. But playing a boy on a ship was safety. Playing became habit. Habit became a shield when I grew up enough to see how too many men act towards women in brothels and around the docks. Wanted none of that aimed at me." 

A guilty sense of relief swept over Lenna with the realization that she had been attracted to a woman all along. Had Faris said she was a man, Lenna was sure that attraction would fade soon enough. 

_Shame on all of us for our relief_ , Lenna scolded herself. The world was ending and they were thinking with their squishy bits. 

"If it helps, I don't think either Galuf or Butz would do anything about uncovering your identity," she offered.

Faris' gaze returned to the fire, which seemed to flare briefly from her attention. "Wasn't their fucking right."

"No, it wasn't," Lenna conceded. "And they will apologize when you're ready to hear them. For what it's worth, I'm sorry you didn't get the chance to address it on your own terms. If you even wanted to."

The fire dwindled to the warm, natural glow it had when Faris went to sleep. Lenna took it as a promising sign, especially once Faris set the bottle aside. Several long moments passed in comfortable silence.

It might have been five minutes before Faris broke the silence. Or ten. It was hard to keep track; there was something oddly relaxing about simply sitting together in front of a warm fire and neither expecting anything more. "Been meaning to tell you. Just you. Other things came up."

 _Other things_. Lenna might have smiled, but for the reality of what those other things were. "Why just me?"

"Why do you think?" The words were said softly, but something about Faris' tone gave them extra weight. There was a gentleness to it that Lenna had only ever heard directed at _her_. 

Years ago, Lenna resigned herself to the reality that any relationship she had with another woman would be unequal due to her status alone—the only one close to being Lenna's equal was Polymja, who had always treated Lenna like a favorite niece because she and Lenna's mother had been close friends. Lenna had been prepared to declare herself a virgin queen once her father passed away, hopefully in some distant future, and live with her desires unfulfilled. But what does a pirate care for status? Piracy was _defined_ by blatant disregard for the rule of law.

Maybe there _was_ hope for a romance in her future, after all. Faris was magnetic, easy to get along with once one gained her trust, and considerate beneath her rough exterior. She appreciated Lenna's self-taught sword-handling and seemed to like _her_. Lenna rather felt that she could be _herself_ with Faris, completely, and not scare her off. A crossdresser surely wouldn't mind her tomboyish tendencies.

Well aware of Faris' attention on her, Lenna licked briefly at her bottom lip and smiled. The flush of warmth through her was nothing like the warmth of the fire. "I think I'd like to be more than just a companion to you. If you still need someone to fill that role."

Faris' breath caught and her eyes widened. They darted past Lenna and into the gloom before returning to her. "You're sure?"

"Of course," Lenna began, though she wondered whether she had been too quick to reach out like this. Yet there might not be time later, and if there was anything she'd learned from her mother, it was that the moment was all she really had. "Unless…unless you were just playing with me?"

The surprise on Faris' face eased, softening into something tender that might have stolen Lenna's breath away. She's so _handsome_ , especially when she lets her guard down. "Trifling's not my style. Not when the heart's involved."

In the companionable silence that followed Lenna's pleased and utterly trite " _oh_ ", she allowed herself to blush and fully enjoy being flirted with by another woman. It was lovely, not having that sick feeling she got when men flirted with her. 

Something shifted in the dark and a snorting start to a snore soon followed. Faris glanced back into the gloom with a touch of regret. "We should be getting to bed, love. Let's talk more about this in Carwen."

With that, Faris got up off the floor and offered Lenna her hand. Lenna took it, allowing herself to accept the help in the spirit it was given. They stood together in silence, taking in the sight of each other, until another snore broke their reverie. Faris took the break as opportunity to lean in and brush a dry, chaste kiss across the back of Lenna's hand. Then she was gone, quick as a flare, and slipped quietly back into her bed. 

Lenna followed more slowly, taking the time to fully appreciate the warm, tingling glow left behind by the kiss. Under the safety of the covers, she rubbed her cheek against the lingering warmth of the kiss and relished the implication that there would be more. 

For the first time since this quest started, she felt like it would all turn out right, after all. 

⁂

Having quite lost count of the occasions in which his present reality clashed with something he knew in the back of his mind as being different, Galuf tended to resort to hyperbole. Felt like the…hundredth?…thousandth? time that this clash came up, and it was a doozy.

Why would a woman need to crossdress? Made no damned sense to him, even with Faris' explanation. He felt very certain that he'd never heard of such a thing in his life. Were things that different where he came from?

The woman in his dreams, the dragon knight with a snaggled tooth, seemed comfortable enough in her armor and with lance in hand. The little girl who appeared in those dreams sometimes, with light brown hair so much like his that he wondered at her parentage, never once seemed distressed over how boys behaved towards her. Even the little blonde girl who told him everything had no incidents of harassment over her sex to report.

Or had they shared their experiences and he'd forgotten them in the fog of amnesia? Had they experienced such things and simply never told him because they didn't think he'd understand? Had they put up with it for years, swallowing down their rage until their eyes flashed like Lenna's did last night? 

Galuf felt rather like he'd been ignorant of a lot of things. Didn't much care for how that felt. When he asked himself why Faris would need to hide her sex, some bit of conscience reminded him that she was too thin for her height, and her wrist had felt like fragile bird's bones in his hand. What if he'd been younger and hot-blooded, with enough alcohol to knock down his self-restraint? What if he'd been a worse person?

He supposed he could understand a little bit, after all.

In time, long after they made it out of the three-masted ship and clambered over other wrecks, the Light Warriors finally made it to a spit of dry land. The gravel crunched underfoot as they leapt over from the rocks. 

The fog was thickest and coldest here, and Galuf could barely make out a rock wall a few meters away. Lenna shivered and drew close to her pirate captain, who draped an arm around her in flagrant disregard to their differences in rank.

Butz drew in a hissing breath. "Feels like a fish trap."

Whatever agreement Galuf might have made died in his throat. A blue glint flickered to life somewhere deep in the fog. It guttered like a candle's flame without a breeze, grew, and somehow took the shape of a woman. She was slight with some sort of wasting sickness, pale as a fish's underbelly, and her gaze fixed on Butz.

"Butz," she began in some sort of rattling, dead voice. The tones of a mother coaxing her child along clashed so sharply against it that Galuf was too stunned to reach out to the boy. "Come here."

Butz's bright blue eyes glazed over as his face grew slack. Death-like. He dropped everything he carried as he shuffled towards the apparition. "Mom?" he whispered. 

No sooner had the boy paused before the apparition than another appeared. Tall and cloaked in blue, the king of Tycoon's eyes didn't quite focus on Lenna. Somehow, he seemed to look at both her and her pirate. He beckoned his child in a firm, formal tone. "Come over here." It was said like a commander expecting prompt obedience from an underling. 

"Father!" Lenna slipped from under her pirate's arm to run to him, her eyes taking the same dead glaze as Butz's. Faris followed, dreamlike, drawn to the king and puzzled by Lenna's presence. 

"Lenna!?" Her voice was higher, confused, like something snapped together in the back of her mind. Faris barely had time to think as the dead glaze drifted over her eyes, and anything she might have said was rendered incomprehensible. 

Then Galuf was the only one left. He expected the blue glint this time, sort of recognized the blonde girl appearing from the glint as one of the girls in his dreams, but—

_A teenager kneeling before the pile of too-damp sticks and trying to light it. His steel struck at a well-worn piece of flint and produced sparks, but the sparks wouldn't take. Butz? …No, the eyes were right, and the hair, but Butz didn't have the wispy moustache of a boy trying too hard to be a man. "What's taking them so long?" the boy asked, frustration clear in his voice. "If only Kel—"_

There were sparks in Galuf's mind, brought on by the girl, but they just wouldn't catch fire.

"Grandpa," the girl said. Her voice was familiar, but the sparks wouldn't take. "Come over here."

He shook his head; perhaps the disjointed pieces would fall back together. No such luck. And the way the kids were acting, maybe that was a blessing. "Who in…? Can't remember."

The kids collapsed, one by one. Stunned, he could only watch as the blue essence of their spirits escaped their bodies and were drawn to the apparitions. As a beautiful young woman appeared behind the girl who called him "Grandpa", her form lush and inviting. 

"Allow me to swallow your soul. Become one of us!" Her voice was enchanting, musical, yet it promised sin beyond imagining. Were he a sailor too long at sea, Galuf might have been tempted by this woman. 

It was cold, wet, and the kids were too young to die. He steeled himself against her temptations, instead. "Who the fuck are you?!"

The woman stroked her cheek thoughtfully with long, elegant fingers. Her golden hair glimmered without need for light. "Hm," she muttered to herself. "Why won't you fall under my spell…

"I am Siren." Her tone changed, becoming more respectful. Like she was doing him a favor. "I have accepted the lives of these three people. If you do not hinder me, I shall leave you be."

Of all the… No, he thought viciously as he stepped up to the woman and the image she'd hoped to use as a lure. She dared speak to him with honeyed words while the kids' souls hung in her grasp. He could have strangled her. He may yet. "Sorry. Seems I can't."

Her head tilted in confusion. "Why protect these three?"

"I…" Why, indeed? Because Butz had so much patience with his amnesia that he explained everything Galuf thought to ask about. Because Lenna smiled sweetly as she handed him his share of food and drink, and sometimes talked about her dream to improve on her father's legacy. Because, for all of Faris' coarseness, she did try to make sure everything went smoothly and took care of creature comforts when she could. They were kids with hopes, dreams, and decades of life ahead of them. Damned if he'd leave them to die here. "'Cause they're my friends!"

Right, had to do something. Anything. "Don't fall for it," he shouted, hoping his voice alone would bring them back to awareness. "Open your eyes!"

Nothing. Have to resort to something else. Swearing under his breath, Galuf strode quickly to Butz, pulled him up from the ground until he slumped over, and smacked his back. The boy breathed in on reflex, drawing his soul back into his body, and Galuf couldn't waste any more time on him. He darted to the girls, repeating the process until the apparitions disappeared and the kids could breathe on their own again. 

They barely had time to get to their feet. 

Siren's hair floated in a wash of energy as she abandoned pretense and glared hatefully at them. At Galuf, rather. Her eyes could have burned right through him. With inhuman speed, she floated off the rocky ground and flew right towards his midriff. 

Galuf's breath left him with the force of her attack. His back slammed into the sharp rocks. They gouged burning rows into his skin, making him gasp. Siren straddled him, her hand claw-like as she dug her nails into his face and tried to slam the back of his head against a rock. 

She didn't get the chance. Several things happened at once: Faris slammed the edge of her sword into the monstrous woman's back and it slid right off; Butz, noticing this and acting quickly, hammered the back of her hand with the pommel of his sword; Lenna cast a quick Cure that relieved the burning in his back and stopped the bleeding; Galuf rolled out of the way when her grip slackened.

Siren reared with a screech, throwing Faris off her back. Upon Faris' fall, Lenna attempted to cast another Cure and failed—Siren had muted her, somehow. Something bright and fearsome glinted in Lenna's eyes at the discovery and she grinned with unholy delight as she gripped her flail. It swung out, hard, the knobby striking head impacting with Siren's side with a crunch that would have shattered a human woman's pelvis. 

Galuf's jaw might have dropped at the sight of sweet little Lenna finally letting go.

Shuddering from the pain, Siren paused in her attack. Then she _changed_ , somehow. The desiccated skin drew back from her nails and mouth, growing a horrific, mottled black and blue. An eyeball popped out, rolled, and Butz jumped away before it could stop at his feet. The reek of rotting flesh nearly overwhelmed them. 

Lenna tried to cast another spell—Fire, probably—but could utter no sound. In her frustration, she tried for another strike. The monster saw her coming this time, grabbed her by the neck, and flung her aside. Faris caught her before she hit the ground.

Galuf took the opportunity to grab a fistful of the monster's death-dulled hair, yank her off-center, and used her attempt to regain her balance to throw his fist into the small of her back. Butz's sword whistled in the air as it swung down, taking off a hand. 

Not that losing a hand seemed to have much effect on her. She glared at Butz with eyes clouded over by cataracts, sneered with a mouthful of rotting teeth, and came for him. He barely managed to get his leather shield up against her remaining hand in time. 

As Siren struggled to get past Butz's shield, smoke wafted up from the hem of her skirts. Lenna scrambled back before she could be kicked away, her hands balled around a bit of rock and her jewelled knife, and Faris swept in front of her with brandished shield.

The fire spread quickly—in its undead state, the monster's body was little more than dry kindling. The unnatural scream pierced the gloom, drove spikes of pain straight into Galuf's head, until the fire claimed Siren's voice. She collapsed in a heap of burning flesh and silk. 

It wasn't until the fire exposed charred bones that they relaxed enough for Butz to grin at him. "Galuf, our savior!" 

"What the—" Galuf couldn't quite smother the sudden swell of discomfort from the attention. And the teasing tone in Butz's voice.

Then Butz's grin widened in delight. Lenna smiled kindly at him, though there was surely a bit of her enjoying the ribbing at his expense. "You're embarrassed!"

"Am not!"

They all laughed, though it was just as much out of hysterical relief as it was for Galuf's humiliation. He fought down the heat at his cheeks and waited until it died down. 

As if dissipated by Siren's death, the fog burned away with almost alarming speed. The morning sun shone bright on the mismatched group of Light Warriors, warming their skin in a way the dying fire couldn't. 

"It's a long way to Carwen," Butz said at last, when they finally stopped laughing. He slung his oilcloth sack over his shoulder. "We'll get there faster if we start now."

Galuf had no complaints with that.

Lenna paused briefly at Faris' side, said something he couldn't make out, and was urged to go ahead. Faris watched her go, expression so lost in thought that Galuf wondered if he'd have to carry her with him as he left. Then she shook her head, trotted to catch up with Lenna, and their fingers laced together as they walked side-by-side.

Cute little lovebirds they were. Somehow, Galuf couldn't quite shake the feeling that more was off than he knew. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cultural notes:  
> \- Faris' ship constitution is based on real world pirate articles of agreement. Prime among my sources was '‘Piratical Schemes and Contracts’: Pirate Articles and their Society, 1660-1730' by E.T. Fox  
> \- You may be familiar with another term for eight-pagers: Tijuana bibles. Smut has been used for propaganda and satire for centuries, and has been a major influence in changing public opinion during the French Revolution. 
> 
> Game-specific:  
> \- In the Ultimania Archive, there's a blurb saying that Lenna was meant to be a tomboy in her preliminary design. I combined this with the guidebooks that say that she taught herself the sword, and that she learned the military arts from her father.  
> \- Faris really does say she's a woman. This is literally in the text of the game. It's in all the books. I went with butch/gender-non-conforming because there are many ways to be a woman, and this strikes me as a fair balance.  
> \- Faris is a Japanese character, written through a Japanese lens, steeped in a history many Westerners may not be aware of. Faris is influenced by Lady Oscar from Rose of Versailles, by the Takarazuka Revue, by any number of East Asian women throughout history who assumed male roles to access male privilege and still claimed their womanhood. I just want to point that out for anyone who may not know of that context.  
> \- Shamelessly stealing FFT's spell text, don't mind me.  
> \- Galuf uses [きさま](https://jisho.org/word/%E8%B2%B4%E6%A7%98) in reference to Siren, which is delightfully rude.  
> Finally, I hope y'all are enjoying this. The next chapter's going to be lighter.


	4. If the sea be denied us...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the wind gone and rowboats unavailable, the Light Warriors have to find an alternative in Carwen.

On the evening of the first day of their hike from the Ships' Graveyard, Butz discovered something astounding: if he was in a good enough mood, his steps were much lighter. Like he weighed a third of what he should. If he focused, he could extend that to the others. It made their journey more bearable, allowed them to range further and walk faster with a third of the effort. 

On the third day, Galuf discovered that he could feel where the earth was unstable and where it could be trusted. When Galuf got Butz alone to share his news, he said the earth whispered to him wordlessly, and it was on him to figure out what it was telling him. This they kept secret from Lenna. The Water Crystal's blessing hadn't manifested in her yet, and she was growing increasingly disappointed. 

As the Fire Crystal blessed Faris with control of its element, and the Earth Crystal blessed Galuf with its secrets, so the Wind Crystal blessed Butz with lightness of foot and an unfelt wind at his back. With the Crystals behind them, he was sure they'd be okay. 

⁂

Carwen: home of the finest shipyards in the world, port of call for all manner of businesses, and the largest natural harbor in the world. It retained its independence through the Lonkan Expansion and collapse, through the Walse colonization attempts, and it only fell briefly during the Dragon War. As such, it was much in favor with the less reputable sort of businesses. Money was money, regardless of how it was gained, and always welcome. 

At any other time, Carwen was abuzz with commerce regardless of the hour. Now, with the Wind Crystal shattered, it was unusually quiet. When the Light Warriors shuffled towards the port at around midnight, after several days' worth of hiking, it felt deserted. The ladies of the night who would have haunted the docks and certain street corners were nowhere to be found, ships sat in their moorings with sails tightly furled, and only the city watch hung about. 

Faris spared all of a moment glancing over the smaller docks, hoping for an appropriately-sized rowboat she might yet be able to hijack with some help. No such luck—either they'd all been taken already by people trying to leave Carwen for home, or they were hoisted home by local fishermen to avoid theft. Maybe she'll find something in the morning. 

The inn they checked into was one of the newer ones, with fancy running water pipes already built with the facility. New technology from the other side of the world was always slow to catch on, but Carwenians embraced every discovery they could so long as that discovery could bring in more money. 

With a respectable amount of gil at their disposal thanks to the late, great Hopcyn Cofresi, Butz and Galuf splurged for their own rooms. Faris considered doing the same, had even been ready to ask for one, but then Lenna stepped in front of her with a boldness she hadn't expected and requested a single room with two beds. For propriety, of course. 

It gave Faris pause. She spent much of the walk puzzling over why she was lured in by the image of the king of Tycoon. Sometimes she had dreams of her chubby toddler's hands reaching for a swishing blue cloak; maybe her scrambled mind connected those dubious memories with the king. It meant _nothing_. Neither does the fact that Lenna's pendant was the same as hers. It was just a fantastic coincidence. 

The real world didn't function on destiny and prophecy. If it did, she'd have been found by her parents and swept away home. If it did, she wouldn't have spent her childhood hunting rats in the bilge and learning how to get away from much bigger adults. Frankly, if the world worked like they did in fanciful tales and operas, she wouldn't be _here_ , pretending like she hadn't recently lost her livelihood and half her soul.

When finally she and Lenna made it to the room, the clock in the hallway struck one in the morning. They were both exhausted, and neither wanted to go to bed reeking of sweat. Faris would have been content to wait for Lenna to finish with her bath before going in to wash up after her. Would have sprawled herself over the armchair in the meantime and maybe nodded off.

Lenna invited her to join her in the bath, instead. She should have said no, should have come up with some excuse. Should have rejected the maiden's first attempt at a kiss, not held her close and showed her how it's done. Should have kept in mind that this was no girl but the next Queen of Tycoon, and that enjoying a night with a noblewoman usually ended badly. 

But Faris was tired. Her nerves still clanged with her close brush with death. The bits of her soul that remained after Syldra was ripped from it ached for completion. At one o'clock in the morning, it wasn't the future Queen of Tycoon who invited Faris to her bed. It was just Lenna. Lenna, with her true personality hidden in wait for someone to find her and love her for herself. Lenna, who didn't push Faris away upon learning her secret but drew her closer. 

And, dammit, she deserved to have something go right for once. What harm was there in the arms of an eager young woman who wanted her just as much? Within those arms was a chance to forget, if just for a moment, how much had gone badly within the span of a couple of weeks.

At two o'clock in the morning, they were just two women enjoying each other's company in the warm sanctuary of a bed. Maybe they might have been a little bit in love. Everything else was inconsequential and left behind like a pile of clothes on the floor.

⁂

Lenna woke up to Faris getting out of bed at dawn. Still sleep-muddled, she watched Faris get dressed in clean clothes from her sack with no clear thoughts in her head beyond mild appreciation for how Faris could switch so easily from considerate lover to swaggering pirate captain with little more than padding, bindings, and playing upon the assumptions of others. 

_It's always been an act_ , Faris told her in the Ships' Graveyard. That act must have saved her time and again, for her to get as far as she did among cutthroats and thieves. 

"It's too early to be up," Lenna mumbled from her nest of blankets and pillows. She had half a mind to convince Faris to come back to bed, but it would have been a waste of all that effort just to undress her again.

Faris' glance at her before finishing pinning her cravat in place was fond, soft, and nothing at all like the pirate who had her tossed in a cell. "I've errands to run, love. Best get 'em all in order early."

Her response was little more than a mumbled assent. She curled into the spot that was still warm from Faris' body heat. Had Faris' boots not clapped over the wooden floor, she was sure she'd drift back to sleep. 

The mattress shifted with Faris' weight as she sat at Lenna's side and brushed the hair from her face with a delicate touch that didn't surprise her as much as it might have before last night. "You've only the single dress?"

"Mhmm." And it was probably horribly rank by now.

"Might I borrow your things?" Faris' touch turned into a light caress along her cheek. "Sleep in and you'll not miss them 'til I'm done."

Lenna might have laughed had she not been so sleepy. A _pirate_ asking to borrow her things! She smiled, instead, and shifted to her back with a languorous stretch. Faris watched her with a renewed spark of interest in her eyes. "If you return them."

"Don't worry. It'll only be a couple of hours." Faris leaned down to kiss her forehead. Lenna's heart might have fluttered from such gentle intimacy. Then her handsome pirate captain got up, gathered up Lenna's clothes and shoes into one of the oilcloth sacks, and left the room.

Maybe when Faris came back, they could talk about this new stage in their relationship. For now, Lenna pulled the blankets back over her body and was soon asleep. 

⁂

For all that Butz still wasn't used to sleeping indoors, he supposed the night had been comfortable enough. Once he left the window open long enough to air out the musty, closed-in smell, the room was tolerable. But he missed Boco's warmth protecting his back from the elements as they curled up in front of the campfire. He missed the musk of _bird_ that most people detested and he'd gotten used to years ago. He missed the way he and Boco could understand each other without needing to say anything.

Wondering again over how Boco was faring without him, Butz left his room in a state of distraction that only came with the safety of civilization. And very nearly bumped into Faris and her sack in the process. 

He should have bumped into her. Faris pivoted on her heel, shifted her weight on her other leg, and was well out of his way before he fully noticed her. In another life, she might have been a dancer. 

"Good morning," Butz offered in as unassuming a tone as possible. The few times she bothered to talk to him after the fiasco at the Ships' Graveyard, her voice was so sharp it was a wonder he didn't bleed from her jabs. Not that he could blame her. He felt rotten about the whole thing, but Lenna had said not to apologize until Faris was ready to hear him. Something about needing to burn through the indignation.

With a grunt of acknowledgement, she took a few steps on her way and Butz figured that would be that. Then she stopped and turned just enough for him to recognize that grimace of _really not wanting to do something but needing to do it anyway_.

"Didn't see a rowboat last night. Gonna ask around, see if anyone's got a spare hidden."

"Ah." Butz paused. Not a bad idea, actually. They'd have to hug the coastline with a rowboat, but it'd get them to Walse faster than walking. "Want company?"

The moment Faris' eyes narrowed, he knew that asking was a bad idea. Her voice took a frosty tone that felt like she'd prefer to stick her dagger in him. "No. Rather work alone."

Ouch. Well, he deserved it, he supposed. "I'll, uh, leave you to it, then."

With another grunt, she continued on her way. Butz just hoped she'd burn through her anger sooner rather than later. 

Pausing at the door to Galuf's room, Butz took a moment to brush down the front of his tunic self-consciously. His spare clothes were still wrinkled from being at the bottom of his travel pack, but at least they were clean. And normally his state of dress wasn't that big a problem in the wild, but city folks tended to be a judgemental lot. 

Butz's knock was answered with swearing. The rustling sounds coming out of the room concerned him, and it took a few moments before Galuf opened the door.

He wore little more than a towel around his waist. Butz glanced away quickly, though he did hope that he would still be as muscular as Galuf when he reached that age. Maybe not quite so hairy. "Just got up?"

"Yes. Can't find my blasted clothes." Galuf moved away from the door to let him in. 

The room was no different from Butz's, and it didn't look like there was anywhere for Galuf to lose his clothes. And his boots were still in front of an armchair. 

Faris had been coming from this direction with a sack. Butz smiled, though he did hope she didn't plan on doubling back as soon as he was gone to steal _his_ things, too. His own travel clothes were still drying over the tub. "I, er, think Faris might be pranking you."

Galuf's glance at him was disbelieving. "Does she look like a prankster to you?"

On second thought, probably not. "You're right. Why don't you stay in and I'll bring up food from downstairs?"

With Galuf's grumbling acceptance as blessing, Butz left the room and wondered where Lenna went off to. He hadn't paid any attention to the women once he and Galuf got their room keys and went upstairs—seemed rude, for one thing, especially after Lenna all but saying outright that she didn't like that they treated her differently. 

After knocking at a third door along the way, Lenna's voice asked him to wait. Butz tugged at his tunic's front again in a futile attempt to make a particularly bad wrinkle less obvious. At least it was his stripey tunic, which camouflaged the worst of the wrinkling. 

Lenna turned up at the door with her hair still a bit tousled and her body wrapped in a sheet. Short as she was, Butz had no problem with looking past her to the room's interior. The window was open, and one of the sacks was placed neatly by the armchair. Faris' sword and armor were propped up against it. "Butz? It's too early. What do you need?"

"Where are your clothes?" he asked, though he had a niggling suspicion that Faris made off with them, too.

"Oh, Faris borrowed them." Lenna's voice was soft, fond, and any curiosity he might have had about how her night went was gone. "I think she's taking them to be cleaned. She left to take care of errands."

Which meant that it'd be a while before they were brought back. "I'm going down to get breakfast for me and Galuf. Want anything?"

"Oh! Yes, please! Last night was exhausting." Lenna's smile was grateful, and it was soon broken by a yawn.

 _I'll bet_ , Butz thought. How they had the energy to do more than collapse after the gruelling hike from the Ships' Graveyard, he had no idea. Love manages, he supposed.

With a flourish meant to make her giggle, Butz excused himself to collect their breakfast. He had his own errands to attend to.

⁂

After a quick bite to eat at the inn, the first order of business was laundry. An old blue mage a few blocks away laundered for out-of-towners, so Faris strode quickly to the house where the crone did her work. This early in the morning, the cobblestone streets were mostly free of traffic.

The crone's house stood on a corner near the block's well and was easily recognizable from other houses by its blue-painted lintels. A child emerged from the house to set out a clapboard advertising the day's rates. 

"We're not open yet," the child said, in as officious a tone of voice as a ten-year-old could manage, as Faris approached the door. 

"Wind's gone, lass, and the boats with it. We'll be getting no other work for a while." The crone shuffled to the door to place a gnarled hand on the child's shoulder. She peered up with rheumy eyes at Faris. "You'll be wanting our services?"

Faris dumped the oilcloth sack at the door. There wasn't much, at least. "Aye. I've a few things. How fast can you get them washed?"

"An hour for most clothes. Bit over for that greatcoat of yours. Thicker fabrics dry slower. Strongest Aero spells in the world can't change that."

It didn't take Faris long to consider turning over the greatcoat. It still smelled of brine and could do with a good laundering. She dug the pendant and some trinkets out of her pockets and stuffed them into her waistcoat pockets. Everything else that was tucked away in hidden pockets in the greatcoat could hardly be missed.

Once the child took her things inside, Faris asked about the next thing on her list of errands. "Cofresi's wife still in town?"

"That speech of yours belongs to Tule, eh?" the crone asked, instead. "Get yourself stranded?"

"Drifted ‘til we reached the Graveyard," Faris replied. It was honest enough. "Came across Cofresi's ship. Figured I owed it to him to tell his wife."

The crone made distinctly approving sounds. No surprise there; Cofresi had been a local hero. "Ah, you're one of the brethren of the Inland Seas. You'll be finding her three blocks to the west. Just north of the whitesmith's shop. Look for the green roof. Her apothecary should be opening soon."

Faris thanked the woman and took her leave. 

Along the way, she stopped at the whitesmith's shop and made inquiries about repairing the clasp of her pendant. He refused, saying it was mithril work and required tools he didn't have. No matter, she supposed. There was a bluesmith in Walse. 

Meeting with Cofresi's widow went about as well as expected. Faris disliked the task of informing family of her crew's passing, but it had to be done. Predictably, the widow took the news stoically, refused the gil found on his ship, and shut the door in Faris' face. Likely she preferred to grieve in silence, and Faris respected that.

The next order of business: sensible boots for Lenna. The high-heeled shoes were very pretty, but Lenna had stopped more than once to heal her blisters. Faris left the shoes with a cobbler as a reference, reminded him that she wanted boots one could trek in, and left for the next order of business.

The shipyard was technically open, but much of the staff was absent. The watchmen eyed her as she walked to the operations manager's office in the tiny building overlooking the shipyard and let herself in. As she wasn't carrying obvious weapons, they didn't move to intercept her. 

"Everyone who wanted to leave took whatever rowboats they could find," the manager told her. "The only ones still around are owned by small-time fishermen. They won't give up their boats, not when the wind isn't blowing anymore."

Faris grimaced, but there wasn't much else she could do. Didn't rob from the lower classes if she could help it, and she wasn't about to steal away someone else's livelihood. Her gaze swept out the window, across the yard, and she wondered if her year's worth of carpentry was sufficient. "Do you rent out tools and bending forms? Sell planks?"

"Wanting to build your own? We don't have enough seasoned wood immediately available, and nothing already shaped." The manager shook his head. From the shift in his composure, it seemed that his estimation of her went up considerably. "If you're wanting to wait out the next batch of seasoned wood, we can rent you the space to work. Should be done in two weeks."

Great. And the soak needed to bend planks into the right shapes would take another week. Might as well walk, it'd take just as long. She gave her thanks and wished him well, and wandered out of the shipyard. Maybe the thinner clothes would be drying by the time she got back to the crone's house.

⁂

Faris circled back towards the inn around noon and shoved Galuf's clothes into his chest the moment he opened the door. Reflex alone allowed him to catch them before they fell. Then, like a whirlwind, she was gone. A door slammed barely a second later. 

To his surprise, his clothes were clean, dry, and lightly scented with some woody-smelling soap that wasn't too strong. Would it have killed her to warn him that she was taking his things for a wash?

Sourly, Galuf suspected that it might have at least wounded her pride. 

After he dressed, he found the trio in Butz's room. Along with a pile of supplies Butz was sorting out. Butz sat cross-legged on the rug, leaving the armchair free, while the girls sat close together on the edge of the bed. 

Damned if he could figure it out, but their intimacy still made him a bit uneasy. Was it because they looked related? Faris was taller, sure, but that didn't mean anything. Their eyes were differently shaped, but they had that green that was a little too similar. Faris' nose might be sharper and her chin pointier, but they shared similar shapes. Why didn't their similarity bother them the way it did him?

Butz's glance was pointed, as if he knew what Galuf was thinking. And he'd probably be right. None of Galuf's damned business. 

"…So building a proper rowboat's right out. Shipyard's off-season, for one, and the wait for seasoning and shaping new lumber will take too long. I'm thinking, find a linden tree about…this thick," Faris paused to stretch out her arms to, roughly, a meter and a little over, "chop it down, and hollow it out. Use the innards for oars."

"Oh! A logboat." Butz nodded encouragingly, then stopped when Faris narrowed her eyes at him. He went on to his question without missing a beat. "Where would we get the tools?"

"They can be borrowed."

 _Probably a very loose definition of 'borrow'_ , Galuf thought uncharitably. He knew he shouldn't be annoyed with her, and certainly he deserved some retribution for ripping her clothes and exposing her secret, but just how long did a woman hold a grudge, anyway? This partnership wasn't going to work out if they didn't trust each other. 

"I think we should keep asking around in the meantime," Lenna said. Galuf tried to ignore how she seemed to lean into her lover. It was subtle, at least. "For any information that might help. We can offer money for someone's rowboat, if that's all that's needed."

To his surprise, Faris seemed to soften to the princess' silent cajoling. "If you like."

Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised; Lenna's response was a lovely smile that seemed to make her glow. It also made him uncomfortable; falling in love this fast struck him as a bad idea. Not that the heart listens to the mind, especially in youth, but there were greater priorities. 

"Worth another shot," Butz added as he rolled potions, eyedrops, and antidotes into a few soft felt bags intended to be worn on a belt. "Might be options we haven't considered."

Faris snorted at that, but a nudge from Lenna kept her silent. To sooth her, Lenna shifted closer and practically fluttered her lashes at her. "Besides, I haven't visited Carwen before. I'd like to be shown around."

No wonder Lenna told them to wait to apologize for ripping Faris' clothes. She had a much better understanding of how to deal with Faris' moods than either Butz or Galuf. Galuf had to bite his tongue from chortling at the thought of the irascible pirate captain having a soft spot for the kind of person she would likely rob otherwise. 

" _Fine_." Faris looked like she wanted to be annoyed, but just couldn't manage it in the wake of Lenna's gentle pressure. 

Taking the shift in Faris' mood as encouraging, Butz stood and stretched. "I'll take Galuf to lunch. There's a place nearby that does great blackened fish, if you two want to join us."

"I _am_ pretty hungry." Following Butz's example, Lenna stood and tugged playfully at Faris' hand. Grumbling, Faris got up and let Lenna lace their fingers together. 

Galuf politely ignored it. 

⁂

Lenna hummed happily as they walked the streets of Carwen. Yes, they needed to get to the Water Crystal somehow, and yes the rumors of the king of Walse installing that Crystal amplification device worried her sick, but for now she would embrace the positives while she could.

One of those positives swayed in the bag she carried over her shoulder. Several positives, actually. The soles of her new travel boots clapped nicely against the cobblestones. The boots were so comfortable that she didn't need to break them in, and they were just neutral enough to appeal to her younger tomboy self. Nestled in the bag, under her old shoes, was a pair of trousers, several clean new underthings, and a long, sunny orange tunic that could be belted to double as a dress. 

In full view of everyone in the tailor's shop, she had kissed Faris on the cheek for her thoughtfulness. Galuf managed to mutter a thanks when his new clothes were presented, but Lenna could tell that new clothes was the last thing he expected.

It was so late in the afternoon when they came across something unusual that the sun was setting and windows lit up as residents continued their lives as if nothing untoward was going on. The streets started clearing as people made their way home. On one corner, a woman was talking to a friend. Lenna would have ignored her, but her interest piqued the moment she heard "dragon" tumble out of the woman's lips. 

She paused, waiting until the friend left a moment later, and asked.

"Oh," the woman said with a laugh. "My husband said he saw a dragon flying towards North Mountain. No one believes him, so he's hiding out in the second floor of the pub."

Lenna gave her thanks and peeled away from her party to bolt towards the pub. Her heart raced inside her too-tight chest, spurred on by a mix of anxiety, fear, and hope. There was only one sky dragon left; it had to be her father's.

The man stood in what must have been a room for more intimate events and flipped through a book. "I did see it!" he insisted the moment she stepped inside. "A dragon was flying to the North Mountain!"

"What kind of dragon?" she asked, her words almost stumbling over each other in her urgency. She was only faintly aware of the others joining her a moment afterwards. 

Both surprised and pleased that Lenna hadn't dismissed him outright, the man closed his book to consider the question. There were many dragon species, but only one had ever truly associated with humans since the slaughter of the sea dragons. "Er, looked like it had some sort of armor attached, somehow."

That sick feeling of worry twisted in her stomach with the confirmation of her suspicions. "My father's sky dragon going to North Mountain?"

"What's wrong?" Faris asked, quietly. 

"On North Mountain grows a grass called dragongrass," Lenna replied, hands clasped tightly together to stave off her worries. "Nothing else will heal a sky dragon's wounds. The sky dragon may be injured."

Sensing that his input was no longer needed, the man shuffled awkwardly before he went back to his book.

Out of the corner of her eye, Galuf nudged Butz in the ribs. "And if we can't go by sea…"

"…By air!" Butz might have looked a little pale, himself. Lenna blinked, confused by his reaction.

"We could get to Walse with the sky dragon," she admitted. She just hoped her father's dragon was able to heal by the time they got to him.

Galuf beamed with that avuncular air of his; Lenna might have found it a bit patronizing if she wasn't so worried about her father and his dragon. "Good job. To North Mountain!"

"Let's at least have dinner, first. It's late as it is," Butz managed, weakly. Lenna's confusion returned; was he afraid? What could Butz possibly be afraid of?

⁂

Over a dinner of shellfish and soup, it was decided that they would spend the night in Carwen. It was too late to see where they were going, and Butz was the only one comfortable with stumbling around in the dark. He was likely also the only one who didn't care about tripping into a nest of monsters.

Privately, Faris preferred having a roof over her head to sleeping in a tent. There was no need to set up a watch schedule when they were safe in an inn. No need to worry about being attacked by highwaymen and monsters. 

No need to worry about being discovered.

Why that notion bothered her, she had no idea. Never before had Faris felt like she was transgressing on forbidden territory and felt _bad_ about it. She tried, over and over and over, to rationalize it on that hike, but all she could come up with was that fragment of a memory of reaching for a blue cloak. 

"Faris?" Lenna began quietly, breaking the dark, comfortable peace as gently as she knew how. "Are we going to talk about this?"

This: a pretty little princess in her arms, and no longer a maiden. This: anodyne in Lenna's kisses, opium and ambrosia in her embrace. This: the way Faris forgot everything in the heat of the moment and felt guilty about it after the fact. She should stop. 

…She can't. 

"There's no future in this," Faris says, finally. She could, perhaps, ignore the vast gulf of social status between them. Tycoon was weird, as far as countries go. According to hearsay, its king didn't much care for social status. Still, he'd probably have her head for snatching away his kingdom's greatest treasure.

Lenna turned to face her, though what she could see in a dark room, Faris had no idea. "I can reason with Father, if that's the issue. He told me I'm allowed to choose whom I want to marry, and—"

Faris leaned in to stop her with a kiss. At any other time, the notion of marrying the perfect woman would have thrilled her. Now it just made her uneasy, and damned if she could figure out why. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First! [Please enjoy some stellar music by the immensely talented Airam for this fic](https://soundcloud.com/airamcg/dragondance-starcrossed-waltz)!
> 
> Japanese stuff:  
> \- Faris' first skill in DFFOO is translated as Waterwhirl. In Japanese, it's 流水のまい, which reads to me more like "Dance of Flowing Waters".
> 
> Fic:  
> \- As this is self-indulgent nonsense, I opted to split this chapter in two just for the titles, which comes from "The Pirates' Own Song" by Letitia Elizabeth Landon. This was written in 1838, well after the Golden Age of Piracy and during the golden age of pirate adventure and romance novels.


	5. ... We'll sweep through the air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Light Warriors run into trouble trying to find the king's sky dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word of warning: there are mentions of poaching and field dressing/butchering. Just so you know.

The hike to North Mountain was rocky and grim. Lenna's stomach twisted over the first sight of a dragon skull exposed by the winter chill. Its horns were cut off after death by poachers, a final indignity. After the tenth such sight, the sharp sense of loss settled into a dull, persistent sorrow. Sky dragons had been used for war for generations; was it any wonder that their exploitation by humans drove them to extinction?

"Why are there so many bones?" Galuf asked once they set up camp on the first of the mountain's foothills.

It wasn't something Lenna was proud of; she pulled her lover's greatcoat around her shoulders in the hope of drawing on Faris' strength. She wished Butz was available to explain for her, but he and Faris had gone hunting for their supper. "Seventy-five years ago, King Gelon offered Tycoon to the Dragon Knights' Association to serve as their base. Fifty years ago, the Association was so beholden to him that they allowed him to use them to spread out and conquer the lands bordering the Western Inland Sea, with the intent of claiming the Wind Crystal. With it, he went on to Carwen and Walse. Walse fell, with only the eldest princess and her son escaping the slaughter of the royal family. Carwen fell for a few weeks, but they fought back hard enough to oust Gelon's forces. To this day, no one is sure how. The dragons just…got sick after they were wounded and wouldn't recover."

"Hm." Galuf plucked at his moustache, nodding along every now and then to her recounting. "Perhaps they were poisoned." 

"Perhaps." If so, it would have only been one contributor to the fall of the sky dragons. When all varieties of dragongrass but one became toxic to dragons, the war simply accelerated their decline. How could battle-wounded dragons heal when the plant they relied on had become their bane?

Only on North Mountain did the nontoxic variant of dragongrass grow. Supposedly it was because the mountain had been the home of the dragon king, Bahamut, and was sacred to him. It existed in eternal summer, allowing dragongrass to grow year-round. Long ago, when the Dragon Knights' Association was still around, dragon knights and their families would go on pilgrimage to honor Bahamut.

Maybe she should consider taking her own offerings. As Galuf left to double-check the tents, Lenna rummaged through the stack of firewood they collected to find an appropriate stick to carve. Once she came across a promising bit of wood, she began. 

_Lord Bahamut, please bless our quest_ , Lenna thought as she sprinkled clean water over the stick to sanctify it. She didn't expect anything, because she wasn't even sure if he had ever been real. But, best to cover her bases. 

Her knife peeled off the bark, exposing the light xylem beneath. As she shaved and carved figures into the wood, she fell into a comfortable trance. The magic flowing through her warmed her, eased the carving, and maybe she might have fancied that her intentions were heard.

Afterwards, when Galuf told her about the trance, she could recall nothing of it. All she remembered was that, underneath everything else, she had the small and selfish wish for her union with Faris to be blessed and beneficial to them both. It wasn't something she would ask for consciously. Lenna did try not to be selfish. 

⁂

It was evening by the time Butz and Faris came across a very confused bighorn and promptly did away with its confusion. Not that he could blame it, he supposed. Without the wind to move clouds and regulate temperatures, the sun melted what should have been a healthy snow cover far earlier than seasonally appropriate. 

Even for a yearling bighorn, it was large and needed to be butchered before they took their food back to camp. Faris volunteered for that, leaving Butz to harvest any root vegetables and early-emerging sprouts he could find. 

While he plucked promising-looking watercress from a stream, he came across a solution to the problem of when exactly to approach Faris with his apologies. Faris had just lost her dragon and livelihood, and him and Galuf accidentally exposing her secret had been salt on the wound. 

Reminded him a bit of the time he and his father had run across a young nakk caught in one of those iron traps and so hurt that it was ready to bite anyone trying to help. It tried to howl for its parents, but had been left behind. His father taught him to wait and gain the nakk's trust before trying to repair the harm. People, monsters, and animals were technically very different, but some things remained universal: you had to gain the injured party's trust before you could attend to the wound. In case that trust was lost, you just had to try again and communicate your intentions in terms they understood. 

To the best of his knowledge, Faris had grown up around pirates, who tended to be among the dregs of humanity. She wouldn't have much trust to begin with, and certainly not in pretty words. So, he'd just have to work on his actions. Somehow.

He came back with his cloak full of just enough greens to last them the night. Faris glanced at him briefly and returned to field dressing. There wasn't any grace to it; she was clearly much more used to the relative ease of gutting a fish. Not that he'd _say_ it.

"Hey, my part was pretty easy," he began as he sat across from her, laying out his cloak and all his finds in it. "Makes me feel a bit useless. Want some help?"

Faris gave that grunt that he learned to decipher as her _if you **must**_ grunt—he'd been a teenage boy, himself. Taking it as an encouraging sign, he went around to the other end to start carving off choice bits of meat. They wouldn't be able to carry the whole thing, and a little part of Butz was disappointed he wouldn't be able to sell the hide and horns in town for extra gil, but the local scavengers certainly wouldn't mind. 

Butz was in the middle of carving out the haunches into single-serving portions when he decided to try breaking the silence. He did so with his head lowered and figurative tail tucked between his legs, like some nakk trying to appease another. "Sorry about that whole thing. Really."

There was another grunt. It wasn't sharp the way her annoyed grunts were, but it wasn't altogether _accepting_ , either. He left it at that for a while, knowing that to press further would only irritate her, and continued his work. 

The pile of meat on one of the oilcloth sacks grew larger. They'd have enough to last them a few days, at least. He moved on to the ribs before he tried again.

"You and Lenna make a good team." Butz didn't risk looking up; it might be considered a challenge.

There was no audible reply, just the dagger slicing through meat. Sometimes Faris paused to sweep stray hair from her face with the back of her hand, but it was a futile effort. She finally deigned to speak to him when she got tired of the work. 

"She's a quick study, 's all."

Butz snorted, reconsidered it immediately, and cut it short. "Well, if you ever need a getaway chocobo for your elopement, Boco wouldn't mind."

"That bad, eh?" Faris' voice was neutral, like she was trying not to let out more than she wanted. It was the kind of voice that came with a twitch at the corner of the mouth that suggested wry self-reflection.

With a shrug, he replied; "Seen worse. Thought you'd, I dunno, flaunt it more."

"Don't think I don't want to." Faris paused to wipe her hands and dagger on the grass, evidently giving up on her task. "She's everything I could've wanted, and more besides. And if I get to thinking too much, I feel like she's too good for me. Like I'm doing something wrong."

Butz risked glancing up and the sight gave him pause. Faris' gaze was far off, unaware of his, and there was a softness to it that he had only ever seen in his father when he talked about his mother, or when long-time spouses looked at each other when they thought the other didn't notice. 

He had expected a whirlwind romance that would soon die off as continued travel and disappointments drove wedges between people, or a lust that would fade as soon as it was satisfied. He hadn't expected actual _love_ to be involved, and in love she was gorgeous. 

Guess he really was providing the getaway chocobo, after all.

"Might be because," Butz paused to gesture at himself in his outfit made of the cheapest bits of cloth he could find and stitched at the campfire, then her in her stolen silks and linen. "We're common. Lenna's not. We're told all our lives that we're not worth the attention of people like her, right? So that's probably it." 

Faris didn't respond with words; she had that doubtful turn at the corner of her lips and she gave a short " _hm_ ". Still, she was talking to him again without prompting, so that was something. Butz wouldn't push for more.

⁂

Effigies and other offerings of little value were placed along the trail up North Mountain. Faris glanced over them when Lenna allowed them a break from the relentless trek, but otherwise ignored them. Standing stones etched with indecipherable runes stood at points, and none of them knew what they meant. At times they were able to find caches of supplies left behind for pilgrims, and she had few moral quandaries with making off with those. Hardly enough dragon knights left in the world to take advantage of them, anyway.

Besides, she didn't think a mythical dragon king would _care_. Wasn't he supposed to rain vengeance down upon anyone who threatened his children? Because that was what sky dragons were supposed to be. Supposedly people who could talk to dragons were also his children, and she didn't particularly want to know the logistics of _that_. Regardless: there was no bloody proof Bahamut ever existed. 

They stopped briefly to rest and eat in one of the sanctuaries established by nameless shamans from ages long past, who tied sacred magic into the rock and used the earth itself to keep the wards active. Lenna left the group to their meal of bighorn meat rolls and hardtack to take something from her sack with her to a small, neglected shrine nestled in a distant rock wall. 

Faris followed her, of course. There had been precious little time alone as it was. She waited while her lover knelt to clean the shrine, rather feeling that someone with no connection to any of this offering help might not be appropriate.

It wasn't as if Faris didn't have her own superstitions. _Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Sail neither on the end of the week, or during the harvest moon. Cats are fine friends, but finer still are those with extra toes. Pour out a measure of the ship's best wine over the bow to appease Leviathan before setting sail._ So on.

"Do this often?"

"Not really," Lenna began as she righted some carved sticks against the shrine that had probably been knocked over by vermin. Her own she set closest to an engraved figure of a dragon at the shrine's center; the stick still had the warm reddish gold of newly carved pine. "But since we're here, I thought…maybe we could use his help. If it's available."

Faris gave a noncommittal hum; they were all allowed their comforts and she was hardly going to make an issue of it. But she was interested in the stick—from what she could see, it looked well-carved. "Mind me taking a gander at your work, love?"

"Not at all. But, I don't think I was all there when I carved it." Lenna handed her the stick and busied herself with dusting.

The carvings were as smooth as rocks rounded by eons of waves and patterned with figures Faris didn't understand. Along the length, weaving between figures, was a ribbon of runes that weren't much different from those carved into the nearby standing stones. 

"What's it mean?"

"I'm not sure. I started right after you left to hunt and finished before you came back. I don't remember anything between."

Faris eyed her speculatively. Water was a tricky element; as a lifelong sailor, she had a healthy respect for it. Was _this_ how the Water Crystal chose to manifest itself in Lenna? _Woodworking?_ Seemed a bit silly, but she had no other answer.

Not that it mattered right now. She returned it and watched as Lenna set it back against the shrine. "What were you thinking before you stopped remembering anything?"

"Oh, just praying we'd be successful." Lenna's smile turned a bit bashful as she looked up at Faris. There was a delicate bit of desire and intimacy in her eyes that nearly stole Faris' breath away. "And maybe I had a little hope that things will work out between us."

 _Well then_. In flagrant disregard of the misgivings that came to her at night, Faris offered her hand to help her lover up from the ground. It was taken without hesitation or protest. Instead of letting go once Lenna was back on her feet, she drew the hand against her chest, where what remained of her heart might be. "Takes effort to keep this sort of thing going, love, but I'm happy to put in the work for you."

The smile turned brilliant, dazzling the words right out of her and stirring that fluttery feeling in her stomach. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized how much she meant it. Though Faris never wanted for willing lovers, had even been in and out of love enough to figure out which was love and which was just lust, she had never really felt the need to commit to someone like this. 

Lenna's free hand brushed over the faint scar going from Faris' right temple and into her hair, the only physical proof of her hitting her head as a child and falling overboard. Her voice was so soft that Faris could barely hear it. "And I for you, dear heart."

As if he were waiting for the most inconvenient moment possible, Galuf harrumphed. A shame she no longer had a ship from which to throw him overboard. Rather hoping it'd annoy him a little, Faris brought the hand she still held up to kiss the knuckles. Her reward was a light pink of pleasure dusting across Lenna's cheeks that made her desperately want to follow up with a kiss on the lips.

With an apologetic squeeze of her hand, Lenna pulled away. "If we're rested, we should get going."

It took but a moment to collect their things, and they followed Lenna out of the sanctuary. Faris paid no attention to Galuf bringing up the rear, nor to his hesitation as they stepped into daylight. Whatever was bothering him was none of her concern. 

Something glinted brightly in the sunlight a handful of meters away. Lenna nearly jumped out of her skin, startled, and darted straight for it. To Faris' side, Galuf's hand twitched like he wanted to say something and couldn't. He muttered something about the earth, but the whole of Faris' attention was on Lenna and she ignored it.

"Father's helmet!" Lenna bent to pick it up and turned to face them. 

Her body jerked forward before she could say anything else. She stumbled, fell, and the helmet rolled out of her grasp. The blue fletching of an arrow caught the eye and drew it to her shoulderblade, from which the arrow protruded. 

Stunned, Faris could only watch as Butz exclaimed and ran for her. The earth crumbled beneath his feet, forcing him to scrabble back until the unstable ground settled. The chasm left behind spanned nearly the length of her ship's fore topsail yard.

A short-haired woman peeked from out behind a boulder, bow in hand. Upon noticing they were trapped behind a ravine, she swaggered across the rocky ground with all the ease of one who had always lived in the mountains and _tittered_ at them. 

"We came chasing the sky dragon," she began in a teasing tone of voice, her gaze roaming Lenna's body in a way that made bile rise in Faris' throat, "but here comes a bonus!" 

Butz pulled himself up. The tone he took was one he always used to prompt the unsuspecting to reveal more than they might want. Unassuming, curious, and mild enough to lull his target into complacency. "The sky dragon?"

It worked. 'Course it did. The woman might have preened her feathers if she had any. "Sky dragon horns sell for a lot, hoho! And look, the princess of Tycoon! She'll make a good souvenir for my hubby. Heehee!"

 _Souvenir_. Lenna didn't like men, not like that, and the very notion of her sweet little princess being at the mercy of one shocked her out of her inaction. The urge to jump across and dash the stranger's head against the rocks was overwhelming. "Stop!"

With nothing but Lenna in mind, Faris shed her armor and sword, shouldered a rope from her sack, and eyed the span of the ravine as she approached it. She'd always been good with long jumps, which made her wonder at times whether she had any dragon knight blood in her. She might just make it. 

Faris ran the remaining span, launched herself off the lip of the cliff, and her heart leapt into her throat for those few precious moments in which she was aloft. The relief that swept through her when her feet hit the ground with a solid, reassuring thud was a welcome comfort.

The ground then shifted under her. Her blood went cold as it started crumbling. Survival instinct alone compelled her to scramble forward, towards safety, and—

—And the ground was gone. Faris' hands flailed for dear life.

"You fell!" the woman exclaimed, delighted. Faris could barely hear her over the panicked roar in her ears. "Heehee…" 

Her left hand finally caught on a protruding bit of rock. Grabbing it slammed her against the cliff wall. She clung to it, ignored the initial relief, and felt around with her right for another. The second handhold was smaller, but solid enough. She felt around for footholds. Found one with a toe, banged her shin against another. 

Thus began the climb. It felt slow and torturous, but the entirety of Faris' being focused only on the next handhold, the next foothold. She ignored the burn as rock and soil scraped her fingers raw, she ignored the cramps in her calves as she reached for the next stable place to settle her weight. 

"…What?!"

Faris managed to get a hand over the lip of the cliff. Her fingers dug into the thin soil and found a rock to grab onto. With muscles burning and sweat nearly blinding her, she managed one last burst of energy and hauled herself up.

Every nerve in Faris' body screamed to remain lying on the ground and rest, but she had no time. A frantic glance at Lenna revealed that the stranger had the poison arrow in her clutches and still dripping blood. The heel of her shoe pressed hard between Lenna's shoulderblades. Faris desperately wanted to barrel forth, heedless of her own safety, but there was no telling who might lie in wait for her. 

Without bothering to wipe the sweat from her eyes, Faris pulled out her dagger, tied the rope around it as she had for thousands of belaying pins in the past, and wedged the dagger behind the rock that saved her. The other end she tossed in the faint hope that someone would catch it. 

She didn't see who caught it, she only felt the answering tug and used the moment to wipe the sweat from her eyes. As the line grew taut, she placed her boot on the pommel of her dagger and hoped it was enough to hold their weight.

"Lenna," Butz cried out as he stepped onto the line. "Hold on!"

By the time he crossed, Butz was nearly pallid with what were surely nerves. Still, he had Faris' sword and shield with him and handed them to her as he stepped onto solid ground. 

Galuf followed with a self-assurance that Butz didn't have, as if he'd done this before. For all any of them knew, he probably had. Though he carried their sacks, he hadn't wobbled once.

Now that she was closer, Faris recognized the woman. There had been several bounty posters for her in the Carwenian pubs. Magisa, a poacher and kidnapper. Which meant that her "hubby" and partner had to be Forza, who was just as infamous. 

Faris stalked towards her with a bloodthirsty grin.

Magisa sneered and stepped back to brace herself for battle. She drew a nasty-looking whip from her belt and let the tail fall to the ground. "Shit… If it has to be this way, I'll dispose of the four of you at once!"

With a sweep of her arm, Magisa drew the whip back enough for it to pick up momentum and lash at her. The tail struck Faris' shield, held aloft while Butz darted in to give Lenna an antidote. Before Magisa could draw the tail back, Galuf grabbed it and tried to tug it away. 

He didn't hold on to it for long. Frost traveled down the whip and spiked into his palm, compelling him to drop it before the damage got any worse. Under the shelter of Faris' shield, Lenna came around just enough to heal herself. 

Butz turned up at Faris' side with his own sword and shield brandished. "Our hero," he muttered with a twinkle in his eye.

"Shove off." Maybe she might have been amused. She was too focused on anticipating the next attack to notice. 

Another lash came, and Butz saw it coming just enough for him to raise his sword in the tail's path. It caught on the blade and wrapped around it. Galuf grabbed the tail again and yanked, hard. 

The whip flew out of Magisa's hand. She swore, followed up with a Fire spell, and called out; "Darling, your turn!"

From a distant tunnel came a hulking beast of a man. He was easily the tallest man Faris had ever seen, and probably the most muscular. Her guts twisted at the thought of Lenna being given over to him like a _thing_ , and she might have gripped her sword tighter in response.

Then he barreled right at them. The shields barely helped against him. Galuf tried to grapple him from behind, but even he was no equal to Forza's strength. Forza stepped away from the shields and backed so hard against a rock wall that they could hear a sickening crack just before Galuf let go and fell to the ground. Butz and Faris struck together to allow Lenna enough time to heal Galuf. 

Their swords barely scratched the man. At least he bled. Once Galuf was healed, he rejoined the fray. Though silenced by Lenna, Magisa still managed to toss an Aero spell at Butz. Did he cast it back at her? Faris couldn't tell, she was too busy trying not to get crushed by Forza's tackles.

How exactly it ended, Faris wasn't quite sure. Before she knew it, Magisa and Forza laid on the grass, panting and wounded. The pirate instinct in her urged her to take the whip and a small bottle that fell from…whichever of them, she didn't know or care. Galuf took her rope to tie them up, and a small part of her wished she could get away with kicking them both over the edge of the cliff and leaving it at that. Or at least take them back to Carwen to collect the bounty. 

"Faris, thank you," Lenna said once she was done healing everyone else. She lingered before Faris as if she wanted to do more than simply thank her, but Galuf was surely going to harrumph at them at any moment and she squeezed her hand, instead. 

Faris watched her lover leave for the tunnel with her heart in her throat, a fluttery feeling in her stomach, and a disordered collection of feelings vying to be acknowledged. They were all familiar feelings, but one was stronger than it had ever been before, and…

 _Oh_. Would she have risked the jump for anyone else?

The tunnel was short and opened up to the summit of the mountain. Sweet-smelling purple flowers with venomous spines cluttered the grounds. In a clearing laid the last of the sky dragons, his ribs heaving in the struggle to breathe. Something big had attacked him, leaving gashes along his belly and throat that bled openly and looked like they were close to festering.

Heedless of the venom around her, Lenna stepped forth and into the clearing. "The dragon!"

"Wounds're terrible," Faris said, perhaps a bit inanely. She ached from the climb, from the battle, and could hardly think of a solution to this new problem.

"Oh," Lenna's voice dropped into a reassuring croon for the dragon, who barely managed to crack open a single green eye for her. "I'll heal you right now."

Before Faris could fully understand what was going on, the foolish, brave princess stepped into the field of venomous flowers. "Lenna!" Faris called out after her, panic seizing her once again. "The hell're you doing?!"

Lenna paused briefly to look back and smile reassuringly at her. The flowers were too tall and scraped poison against her calves and knees, and Faris was so tempted to go in after her that Lenna's words alone stopped her. "It's fine. Don't come! If I treat him with dragongrass…"

The dear, sweet girl finally made it to the cliff edge, where several strange plants Faris had never seen before grew. She plucked one of them and turned to trek back through the thick undergrowth. The color in her face was gone and her eyes looked odd, but Lenna just wouldn't stop to rest. 

Faris was there for her when Lenna finally made it past the venomous flowers. The open, guileless trust in Lenna's eyes spurred her to do whatever would please her princess most. The prickly hairs on the plant Lenna folded into her hands rubbed her still-injured fingers raw, but she paid it no heed. "Give him the dragongrass. Hurry…"

With a nod as her answer, Faris turned, strode quickly to the dragon, and ignored the sound of Lenna collapsing in the grass. The dragon eyed her speculatively. As if he knew her.

 _Hey, talk to Lenna, will you?_ Faris asked as the dragon finally accepted the proffered plant and started chewing on it. _She agonizes over the fact that you won't._

 _I was meant for another,_ the dragon said. The sense that the dragon _knew her_ grew stronger. When would she ever have met him?

Faris ignored the niggling sense of missing time as much as she could. He couldn't possibly mean her. _Yeah, well, your king isn't here right now._

"Get better," Lenna implored, voice weak from the poison coursing through her. Faris wanted to go to her, but she knew Lenna well enough to know that she would be sent back to the dragon.

As she watched, the dragon's wounds knit quickly together, aided by whatever magic was in the plant. He shifted onto his stomach experimentally and stretched out his throat. Satisfied that he seemed to have healed well enough, he stretched out his wings and called out. 

"Good grief," Galuf muttered as he stepped forth to help Lenna off the ground, "you're overdoing it."

Before Galuf could root around his pouch for an antidote, the dragon shuffled over to Lenna's side and licked his blood into her wounds. Out of the corner of her eye, Butz grimaced at the sight. Still, it was effective enough—Faris remembered, vaguely, that sky dragon blood was supposed to be able to heal all manner of ills.

So healed, Lenna got up off the ground and beamed at the sky dragon. "Thank you!"

"All better, eh!" Galuf gave a laugh that sounded a lot like relief. "Well, let's go!"

Butz stepped back, his pallor returning as he eyed the dragon with a fine mix of embarrassment and fear. "I'm not good with heights…" 

It took a moment for Butz' words to make sense. This man who would stumble into monster nests without worries and roam the world with little more than a chocobo for a companion and the clothes on his back was _afraid of heights_. They looked at each other and laughed.

"What's so funny?!" Butz exclaimed, though his heart wasn't really in it. 

Eyes shining with mirth, Galuf pushed Butz towards them. "Hurry up! Get on, get on."

As they all mounted the dragon's back after Lenna, Faris wrapped her arms around her lover's waist. It comforted her to feel Lenna's solid weight in front of her, to feel the warmth of her body. It comforted her to know that Lenna was safe again. 

"I love you," she whispered into Lenna's ear as the dragon started moving towards the cliff to take off. Maybe she was being foolhardy, but she may not have another chance. Not when Lenna was so willing to sacrifice herself for others.

Lenna relaxed in her arms and leaned back. She let go of the riding straps just enough to squeeze the hand Faris rested on her stomach. "I know."

Content with so little, Faris let exhaustion sweep her away to a sort of semi-consciousness. She was barely aware of Lenna deciding for all of them to go to Carwen for a good night's sleep, and the flight afterwards might have been a dream.

⁂

It was dusk when they returned to Carwen. The dragon dropped them off near the city and fled into the foothills without prompting, being disinclined to risk an encounter with a poacher, and the walk into town was considerably more relaxed than their last visit. 

There was no pretense at propriety when Lenna reserved a room with a single bed, not when she was so certain that she was in love with her brave, handsome pirate captain. Not when she was determined now to keep this relationship alive as long as she could. Eschewing propriety in favor of honesty seemed like the least she could do, and she would chance the consequences.

After a lavish meal and a long and welcome bath, she rewarded her lover's devotion the best way she knew how. 

Lenna cuddled in Faris' arms after the lovemaking, happy and sated. Her worries over everything else was shelved for the morning, and all that mattered now was this special intimacy they shared.

"When all this is over," she began, not yet drowsy enough to drift off to sleep, "what do you want most?"

Faris pulled the blanket closer around them before she answered, but at least she felt more relaxed than she did the first time Lenna asked about her thoughts on a life after all this. "Before…well, planned to retire. Get married, Spirits willing. Saved up for a cottage by the sea. That's been good and scuppered."

The silence afterwards allowed Lenna time to dwell on the notion of her lover being so _domestic_ , and she couldn't quite stop herself from smiling. Still, she wondered why Faris said she discarded those dreams. "Why's that?"

"Sacrificed my retirement funds, love." Faris paused to lean in and brush a peck of a kiss on her forehead. "Wasn't gonna leave my men completely adrift."

Warmth spread through Lenna over her lover's selflessness; it assured her that her choice to pursue a relationship with Faris was right. She grew more and more sure that she couldn't have found a better partner.

With the deepening of their relationship came fantasies of accommodating Faris in her life. An experienced sailor would be an asset in the navy. Tycoon was neither Karnak or Walse, having arisen from loose bands of hunting people who drew together in response to Lonka's expansion, and would surely be a good fit for Faris. Lenna would be more than happy to grant her lover whatever titles or property she wanted. And if it was a cottage Faris wanted… 

"My grandfather had a retreat on the island of Telos. It's just south of Tycoon. I'm sure Father wouldn't mind me giving it to you."

Admittedly, she hadn't been there since her grandfather died in exile, when she was ten years old. Every time she went, she remembered being small and unable to speak, playing on the beach with her s—

—Better to forget. Remembering opened up a new wave of grief every time.

Faris mumbled a "maybe" and cuddled her closer. With a soft smile, Lenna nuzzled against her lover's chest, luxuriating in their closeness. She drifted off to the comfortable weight of Faris' arm around her, to the natural smell of her under the soap, to her warmth… 

…And dreamed.

_It was warm and sunny. The air smelled weird, not like home. Big water pushed and pulled against the sand. The older girl pushed the sand into some shapes between them. Her tongue pressed into the gap left by a missing tooth. Lenna adored her, because she understood her and no one else did. Everything was good if she just had **her**. _

_"—fhey're dumb. You talk plenny."_

_Lenna climbed over the pile of sand to plant her hand on the girl's chest. "Naa? Gim."_

_"Again?"_

_Lenna nodded and patted her chest._

_"'m your fiffer, Farifa."_

_Lenna thought very hard and screwed up her face. She wanted so much to get this right. "Sistah. Sarisa."_

_Sarisa stared at her. Then her mouth fell open as she gasped. "You spoke! Like an adult!" Then her eyes went small as she grinned. "Do it again!"_

_"Sistah!" Lenna clapped, delighted that she did it right. "Sarisa!"_

_To her confusion, Sarisa stood and looked around. "Gotta tell Ma—"_

_Lenna settled back on the sand, disappointed. She didn't want anyone else to know._

_Then Sarisa paused and looked back at her. Her grin softened into a smile as she sat back down and patted their pile of sand. "Don' gotta tell her now. Gotta do fhis, firff."_

_Lenna smiled back, warm and full of love for her older sister._

Lenna woke up just before dawn with an overwhelming sense of loss. For the life of her, she couldn't remember what she was dreaming about. Rather than examine what might have brought it about, Lenna snuggled back into the shelter of Faris' arms and went back to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this. Life has been hectic. Still is. 
> 
> Background notes:  
> \- Apologies for writing out Sarisa's speech impediment. I'd leave it alone, but it's actually important to the background of that character.  
> \- A history of the Dragon Knights' Association, details about sky dragon telepathy and the use of their blood for medicine, the increasing toxicity of dragongrass, and the fall of the sky dragon population is given in the book Basic Knowledge. Also given in the book is a note about Tycoonians being originally a hunting people.  
> \- Faris' little superstitions are based on real life sailor superstitions, with one exception.


	6. Drowned is the infinite of her soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Light Warriors attempt to save the Water Crystal. Nothing goes as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for frank mention of injuries and death.

Even with the dragon's innate magic propelling them further and faster than natural, the flight to Walse was long and made longer by the iron grip Butz had around Galuf's midriff. Urging the boy to let up a little only resulted in the tightening of his hold. Galuf supposed he didn't mind quite so much, if just because the alternative was to walk for a few weeks. At least Butz hadn't complained about the experience. 

The girls took to dragonflight like it was second nature. Lenna was easy enough to explain—Butz mentioned something about her father being from a dragonrider clan and adopted into the royal family. Faris he still couldn't figure out—all signs pointed to her being from one of those clans, but she disavowed any possibility of being related to them and simply claimed that sky dragons and sea dragons weren't so different, mentally. Still, Galuf doubted that anyone without dragon knight blood would have made that leap on North Mountain. 

Both Walse Castle and the associated town were bustling with activity despite the lack of wind. Oar-powered galleys pushed off from the harbor while tall ships sat in their moorings with their sails furled. Smaller crafts were pushed along canals with poles and often had well-dressed passengers. To his surprise, small bands of monsters roamed the streets without inclination to attack humans.

The dragon dropped them off outside of the castle and fled again at some unspoken prompting from one of the girls. Up close, the castle was a sumptuous mass of polished white stones and unmarred by algae or mold despite the clear, flowing water around and through it. The guards wore clean livery festooned with expensive decorations, exquisitely tooled leather, and they kept their armor polished to a shine. 

Galuf had never before seen such opulence. Not even at…the name escaped him now, but there was a castle in his mind's eye that he had once thought of as a pinnacle of human endeavor. It housed a great library, and he could not remember more than that.

Lenna paused briefly to talk to one of the guards, showed her pendant, and was allowed in. Faris followed more closely than she might have before Lenna demonstrated her lack of regard for herself so clearly. Galuf couldn't have blamed her. Butz, who was just glad to be on land again, loped after them with an ease he never had in the air. 

In a throne room decorated with pools of impossibly clear, clean water, a king of small and perhaps a bit portly stature sat upon his throne of marble. Though he seemed to be getting on in years, his hair was still starkly ginger and bedecked with jewels. He got up off his throne at the sight of them and beamed warmly. 

"Why, if it isn't Princess Lenna!" the king exclaimed, throwing his arms wide in offer of a hug.

Lenna stayed where she was, choosing instead to observe their differences in status. "King Walse! It's been a long time."

Then she dropped decorum bit by bit as she strode forth and bowed. It was short and not as deep as it should have been, but the king didn't seem to mind. "I have a favor to ask. Stop having the power of the Water Crystal amplified immediately!"

The sharpness of her words made the king stop short. Next to Galuf, Faris' lips quirked in an attempt to keep from smiling. The king recovered quickly and laughed.

"Hahaha, this is a surprise!" There was something almost indulgent about the king's tone. "I couldn't possibly do that. It's because of the Crystal that we live in such prosperity."

Then he turned back towards his throne, as if Lenna's outburst bothered him more than he let on. Lenna followed him without a second thought. "But if this continues, the Crystal will shatter!"

"Hmm… I heard about the Wind Crystal." The king stopped before his throne, a quiet worry weaving into his voice. His gaze was far off as he considered the problem. Then he turned back towards them, his attention on Lenna. "But then, we don't know that Walse's Crystal will shatter the same way. Besides, the people will surely oppose it."

Frustrated, Butz came up behind Lenna to support her. "This is hardly the time to talk—"

The flash of light outside the windows came before the indescribable roar that drowned out every other noise, nearly rendering him blind. Then came the rattle of every stone in the castle and every bone in his body as it screamed past. He braced himself for the ripple of the earth he could feel was coming, though he wasn't sure why he knew it would happen. It came as expected, nearly throwing everyone off their feet. 

Galuf was still blinking away the blinding afterimage burned into the back of his eyes when a soldier ran with surprising speed past him. 

"There's a disaster!" the youth squeaked, his words almost tumbling over themselves in his haste. "A meteorite fell near the Tower of Walse!"

What color remained on the king's face drained as the too-young soldier went past him to stand at the window. The king took the spyglass the youth offered and peered out the window with it. 

"What the—! Assemble the soldiers immediately! Head to the Tower!"

The youth gave a brief acknowledgement and ran to carry out his orders. The king returned to Lenna with distraction so clear on his face that habit alone seemed to keep his decorum in order. "Sorry, but urgent business turned up. Princess Lenna, we'll talk about this again afterwards!"

Then the man collected his guards and left with a haste Galuf could respect, leaving them alone in the throne room.

Silence stretched thick and heavy afterwards, punctuated by the muffled claps of Lenna's new boots on the intricate carpet that covered neatly-cut marble tiles. She sidled up next to her lover, but Faris was conscious enough of where they were not to immediately throw her arm over Lenna's shoulders for support. 

"What now?"

Butz glanced speculatively out the window. It overlooked the moat, and somewhere in the distance was a burst of activity on a wharf not far beyond it. "Do we know if those meteors mean anything? One fell before the Wind Crystal shattered."

"In the Tycoon heartland, leagues away from the Wind Crystal," Faris countered. "It'd take days to get from there to the Wind Shrine."

Something fluttered at the back of Galuf's mind. No matter how much he tried to grasp it, it remained out of reach. All it really left him was a nebulous feeling that there was some relation, but the meteorites themselves weren't the cause of whatever was going on. Damned if he could figure out _why_ , and he was mildly thankful that his moustache was shaggy enough now to hide his frown of frustration. "She's right."

"The king has his soldiers investigating. The dragon is hunting and still needs rest. We may as well wait for an update." Lenna's fingers laced in front of her in that way that betrayed her worries. 

Faris stepped a little closer to Lenna and gave that disarming smile of hers. "There's a place in town that serves the finest oysters in the world. Wanna go?"

Butz pulled a face of exaggerated disgust. "Raw, slimy things served in their own sewage. I'll pass."

Despite her worries, Lenna smiled back and the tension in her hands eased. "Now now, they're very clean. All oysters sold must go through depuration before consumption."

"And the _texture—!_ "

"The texture is the best part." Faris' smile broke into a broad grin, and suddenly Galuf decided he didn't want to be around for this discussion anymore. "And the aroma, and the taste, and the way every one of them is differently shaped…" 

"Right. Galuf, we're going exploring. Bye!"

With that, Butz grabbed his shirt and hauled him out of the throne room. Behind them, Faris laughed heartily and Lenna chuckled. 

"They're gonna be a nightmare when they decide to come out together," Butz muttered as they slowed their pace on the way to some staircase or another.

"They're not a nightmare already?" Galuf teased. He still didn't exactly _approve_ , but it wasn't his place to do so.

With a shrug, Butz switched subjects. "Anyway! Way back…I think a few hundred years? Karnak started consolidating against this big empire, Lonka, and its king thought the best way to form alliances was to marry off the kids. Walse was still pretty small then, but the king of Karnak married off a daughter to Walse and supplied funds for it to build around the Water Crystal. That's in the big tower we flew over on the way here."

Galuf nodded and let Butz chatter about things he had no context for as they roamed the castle. There likely wasn't anything else they could do just then. 

⁂

"So which one was Cousin Tesni?" Faris asked idly as she shucked another oyster and handed it to Lenna over the little table they shared in the back of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in town. Lenna's compliments on her shucking skills still made her feel warm and pleased with herself, long after the fact.

A younger Faris might have backed away quickly from the realization that she was falling deeper in love with every moment spent in a princess' presence. But piracy was a hard life, and she had been a pirate for fifteen years. Her life was spent with the realization that she could die at sea at any moment, regardless of whatever safety measures she took. She _had_ nearly died several times from the sea's caprice. If she fell in love too quickly, she reasoned that it was because of a combination of a constant awareness of her own mortality, of Lenna's brave and foolish desire to protect others at the expense of her own life, and the hole in her heart left by Syldra being ripped from it. 

Lenna took a moment to detach the meat from the shell with her fork and slurp down the mild, buttery flesh with its liquor. She never once bothered with the condiments. "I didn't see her when we were in the castle," she said after washing the oyster down with the light rice wine that paired well with it. "She probably had more important things to do."

"Mm." Faris didn't bother to follow up on that. She focused on slicing open another oyster, on eying it for imperfections, and—and there was a bulge that was nearly indistinguishable. This she dug out with the knife until pale iridescence gleamed in the afternoon light that streamed through the broad windows of the restaurant. A pearl. Not a particularly big pearl, and too misshapen for the elegant strings that hung from the necks of noble ladies, but it was nice enough. She wiped and pocketed it before moving on to discard its host and shuck another oyster. It may yet be useful. 

Somewhere in the middle of biting into her fifth oyster, Faris heard the unpleasant strains of her most hated song coming from a table a few feet away. She swallowed more wine than she wanted to this early in the day and tried to ignore it. 

_Speed, bonnie boat, through dangers unseen._  
_The wind be on your back_  
_Carry the lass that’s born to be Queen_  
_O'er the sea to Karnak._

 _Loud the winds shriek, loud the waves roar,_  
_Thunderclaps rend the air._  
_Baffled, our foes stand on the shore._  
_Follow they will not dare._

Faris slammed down her cup, tossed a handful of gil on the table for their payment, and stood. "Let's go, see if there's been any news."

Bewildered by her sudden change of temper, Lenna blinked up at her. "Why now?"

"Hate that stupid song," she ground out between clenched teeth. Spirits, she never knew _why_ , but the whole song being about some princess fleeing on a boat in a storm jarred something within her that refused to come out. 

Lenna wiped her hands on her napkin and stood. She paused for a moment to listen. "The one about the princess?"

"Song never said what happened to her." Faris really didn't want to get into why _that_ bothered her, either. She could still remember Merrick telling her that she'd been hauled from the ruins of a ship destroyed in a storm, clear as day.

Turning on her heel, she left the restaurant quickly. Didn't want to deal with that sort of thing just then. She only stopped when she stepped out of town and was on the bridge leading to the castle. Lenna stopped by her side, close enough to offer support if she wanted it, but not so much as to be make her feel crowded. It was one of those things Faris loved so much about her.

"The song is from the Dragon War. It's about the princess of Walse fleeing Ty— _Tycoon's_ invasion to rally forces from Karnak." Lenna grimaced and her hands curled in the effort to keep from showing her distress over the subject. "She went on to become queen after driving out the occupying forces and reclaiming her throne. Her son is the current king."

Faris regarded her for a moment and stepped a little closer, offering a little support of her own. "Don't like thinking about the past either, eh?"

"I know I can't change what my family did to come into power. I just…don't know how to fix it. Or how to fix this." Lenna sighed and leaned over the bridge with her elbows on the rail, the air of defeat almost palpable around her.

People came and went, paying no mind to the two who stopped in the middle of the bridge to watch the unusually clear water flow beneath. Giving up on propriety, Faris' hand alighted on her lover's shoulder to squeeze reassuringly. "'Fraid I've got not way to help you with the first. But the second? You've got us, love. We'll do all we can."

Having not had much practice with reassurance in the past, Faris wasn't sure how her attempt would be taken. Her model for these kinds of things when she was growing up had been a man who stubbornly insisted on raising her to be as hard a man as himself. Said it was for her own safety to keep others at arm's length. Preferably further. Still, Lenna's lack of response wasn't very encouraging. 

Before her self-doubts could spiral further, the tension in Lenna's shoulders eased. She straightened and turned to smile so endearingly at Faris that those doubts were soon washed away. "I know, dear heart."

Lenna tucked in under her arm, looping her own around Faris' waist. Passersby barely paid them any notice. "Let's find the guys and go. Notos says he'll come when we're ready to leave." 

"Notos?"

"Father's dragon." Lenna pulled her along as she spoke, and soon enough they were off the bridge and on their way to the castle. "It's his public name. Only Father knows his soulname." 

"Ah." That was another thing that seemed to be common with sky and sea dragons. Again Faris wondered how closely related they were, but that seemed so far beyond her ken that she could only guess. Syldra's she held close to her chest, having never said it aloud. _Kataigís_. The coming storm. In those late nights shortly after his loss, she repeated it in her head in the hopes that he could hear her somehow and come back to her. 

Before they got within a clear sightline of the castle windows, she had to ask. "He's talking to you now?"

"Yes, thanks to you. He's still terse, but he's scared for Father and that occupies all his thoughts." Lenna smiled at her, squeezed around her waist as if in apology, and parted from her. Faris didn't mind—Lenna still had her status to think about, and Faris rather suspected that the last thing she wanted was her cousin to see her so friendly with a pirate.

It took a couple of hours for them to find Butz and Galuf. Or, rather, the guards did. They were hauled out of some monster-infested part of the dungeons that had been closed off, having been knocked out by a particularly nasty variety of imp. Garki-something or other. Two good phoenix downs gone, blown on some exploring that went sideways. 

"We heard there was treasure," Butz offered as explanation. 

Faris turned so that he couldn't see her roll her eyes and mutter " _bloody weirdo_ " under her breath. Lenna tutted at him, but still she thanked the guards for finding them and helped them get their things in order for the flight to the tower. 

Notos waited for them when they left the castle. He radiated worry much like Syldra did, which urged Faris to reach out before she could stop herself.

_Doing all right, mate?_

The sky dragon's great green eye turned to her, and still she couldn't shake the sense that he knew her somehow. _My body still heals, but my partner is beyond my reach._

There was no way she could reassure the sky dragon; he'd know immediately if she was lying. She switched to another topic as Lenna did her final check of the riding straps. _Thanks for talking to her. Means the world_.

 _She is one of my partner's daughters_. Then he shut her out and left it at that.

Good plan. Faris ignored the plural, focusing all her thoughts instead on helping Lenna up the rungs of the riding straps. If she allowed herself to think on it at all, or on anything that had bothered her on this quest, she knew she'd go down paths that shouldn't be ventured. Had enough trouble to deal with as it was. Faris did try not to court trouble she couldn't handle if she could help it.

In time, once everyone was mounted on the dragon's back and secured to the straps, they were off. 

The flight was much like any flight. Loops on the straps secured her thighs and feet to the dragon's neck and shoulders. Lenna, being up front, had a set of loops for her hands. Faris embraced her, and not just for stability. Butz insisted on burying his face between Faris' shoulderblades and refused to budge the entire flight. Very nearly squeezed her to death, too. Galuf seemed like he had more familiarity with riding than Lenna, though Faris doubted he would even be able to say why. 

Within the tower, wounded soldiers laid on the floor. They groaned as the Light Warriors approached, and one of them looked like his leg had been trampled. 

"Garulas never attack people, but…" said one of the soldiers as Butz handed him a much-needed potion. Whatever he wanted to say afterwards was swallowed down with the potion. 

Lenna knelt by the other soldier, mindful of his broken leg. She murmured her Cure spells as he tried to tell him what happened. "A garula suddenly turned violent and broke into the tower." He wheezed in a way that was far too familiar to Faris. Probably had a broken rib, too. "The king followed. And there was a strange soldier…"

"Don't talk," Galuf said in a way that was very nearly commander-like, which again made Faris wonder who he had been before his memory left him. He knelt to take the soldier in his arms and carry him out of the tower and away from any monsters roaming it. Didn't even strain himself in the effort. Butz followed his example, providing a shoulder for the other soldier to lean on. 

The climb up the tower was long and wet, and monsters unsealed by the shattering of the Wind Crystal insisted on accosting them. One turned Butz into a frog, which might have made her laugh on any other occasion. She tossed an item made of powdered and shaped herbs, a maiden's kiss, on him instead. On the fourth floor laid the king, looking much worse for wear. Lenna started healing his wounds, though he insisted on trying to wave her away. She swatted his hand away with a tut that reminded Faris much of career healers and resumed. 

"A garula's up there." The king paused, wincing as bones knit back together, and spoke again. "Please…protect the Crystal."

"Think you can manage the trip out?" Butz asked, looking like he was more than ready to head back on their way. 

The king nodded and took the hand Galuf offered him, and his eyes widened as Galuf hauled him easily to his feet. Faris rather thought that, left to his own devices, Galuf would probably sling him over his back like a sack of turnips and carry him if he had to. Then he excused himself and didn't bother with dignity as he limped away a bit, muttered a spell, and disappeared in a warp. 

At the top floor, a soldier in unfamiliar colors stood between the giant, smelly, shaggy form of a garula and the Water Crystal. Upon hearing them enter, he glanced at them and shouted in an accent very much like Galuf's; "It's being controlled! Can't let it break the Crystal!" 

Heedless of the frailty of the human form in front of him, the garula lowered its head and rammed into him. The soldier fell in a horrifying crunch of bones. As if another injured human wasn't enough for it, the monster turned its too-small eyes towards them and charged. 

Bloody thing was massive and used its bulk to its advantage. Faris covered Lenna about as well as she could, but its strikes were powerful and knocked her off her feet more than once. Butz came upon an idea to turn his new frog spell on the monster. Lenna followed up with a Silence spell to keep it from recovering. The frog was easier to beat, and it was unconscious soon enough. Butz picked it up and took it to the floor below to recover. 

Something must have happened while the Light Warriors were distracted by the battle. Faris could think of no other reason for the deep fissures that spread like an infection through the Water Crystal. Lenna said…something in front of her, she couldn't make it out in the loud cracking. It burst for no good reason, its shards blowing away like someone had planted a bomb inside. 

"We weren't in time," Lenna said, her voice dull and defeated. Faris gave in to the urge to go to her side in support. 

The foreign soldier managed to pull himself up and attempted to shuffle out the door. He collapsed in a gurgling that warned her that his lungs had been punctured in the assault. Probably worse was going on inside him, given the way he was moving. Lenna started on a Cure spell, but Faris suspected the internal injuries would be too extensive to heal. "Unngh… Lord Galuf…"

Galuf looked like he had been pole-axed. He pushed past Butz to kneel at the soldier's side. "You know me?"

"Lord Galuf," he rattled. He didn't attempt to move again. "I couldn't protect the Crystal… Sorry…"

There was a moment in which it seemed like Galuf warred with himself. But he pushed on, regardless. "Tell me! Who the hell am I?"

The soldier didn't seem to hear him. Faris suspected that he was already dying and using his last breath. "Fire Crystal… protect…"

With a final rattle, the man was gone. Galuf's shoulders slumped in defeat. Around them, the shards glinted with their own inner light. Faris stepped away, unsure which to reach for when they didn't move as the Wind Crystal's shards did. A thousand questions raced through her mind, and none stayed in place long enough to be addressed. 

"Shards are glowing…" Whatever the hell that meant. They moved to pick up the ones that glowed. One remained out of reach, on a steep platform they'd have to climb up. Faris was ready to haul Butz with her to give her a hand up when the floor lurched beneath them. 

"What the—" Butz started, just before the floor lurched again. 

Faris knew the feeling of the ground collapsing under her a little to well at this point. "Tower's sinking?" she said, though it was more sarcastic than she might have wanted to be. 

It lurched again, sliding quickly down. Down. Down into the depths that might very well be their doom if they couldn't get out before water started flooding inside. Lenna felt along the wall in the back until she found the switch for a door. No telling how high up they were by now, but they couldn't stay. They scrambled for the exit, pausing only to watch the sea come up for them at a dizzying pace. The sea churned, threatening to pull under even the strongest of swimmers.

They waited. Waited until there was no recourse.

And leapt.

The water was cold on impact. Faris attempted to swim up to the surface, but the downward rush was too strong. Could barely move against it.

 _Save your strength, little love_. The mental touch calmed her with its familiarity and the raw expression of a love beyond the ken of any mortal poet. Relief swept through her, clearing the grief from her darkest corners.

"Syldra!" she managed to shout as she surfaced. She could feel his amusement rippling through her. He didn't answer her immediately, choosing to focus on pulling Galuf and Butz into his craw before the churning waters pulled them further down. "You're alive!"

 _And you finally got around to a successful mating_ , he teased her. She wanted to laugh and throw her arms around whatever bit of his scaly hide she could touch. _Don't let her go, now_. 

Right. With his senses at her disposal, she could feel the water pulling Lenna away. The waters eased, letting her swim after Lenna and loop an arm around her waist so she could swim back to Syldra. He waited patiently, taking them into his mouth when she felt ready. 

They tumbled into a pouch that hung below the jaw, where he sometimes stored rocks to help pulverize bony fish. It was empty, washed clear by his swallowing them only so far, and she tried to keep from poking into his flesh. 

The guys were dazed enough not to question anything. Lenna curled up against her in a way that struck at Faris' heart and fueled her draconic protective tendencies. In the warm, wet dark, she tucked her princess into her arms and waited as he swam to land.

_Are you…?_

He didn't answer. Tried to protect her from feeling what he felt. But she could feel the pain at the edges of her consciousness and followed the threads of it. He was too sick, too injured. Parasites gnawed at the wounds Karlabos left him with, and some monsters were even then eating him from within.

 _Beach yourself_ , she suggested. Her hand patted at the thin flesh of his crop in a motion that was more to assure herself than him. _We'll cut away the rot and pull off the parasites, and then Lenna can heal you. We'll pass the shard around, take turns with the healing_.

He rumbled wordlessly. Tried to push her out of his head, but he was too weak. Realization of _his_ mortality hit and she shied away. Syldra considered something for a moment, then mentally pulled her into the deepest depths of his memories. 

The sea dragons had lived peacefully alongside humanity long ago. Some would take humans as partners. This peace had lasted hundreds of years. Something then changed. Humanity grew greedy as they realized they could make perfumes from the ambergris found in a sea dragon's intestines, render a clean-burning oil from their blubber, cut off their scales and polish them into decorations, polish and carve their teeth into trinkets, eat of their flesh, use their brains as tanning agents. The sea dragons were slaughtered to fuel growing empires. The survivors retreated to deeper waters, never to be seen again. 

Syldra, as a young sea dragon born after the slaughter, grew enraged at the injustice of the memories shared with him and left his pod for retribution. For hundreds of years, he called down storms to destroy ships and generated great whirlpools to drown sailors. He decimated island nations, stalked navies, and none could get close enough to stop him. 

Then she came along. She shouldn't have survived his storm, small and powerless as she was then. Something about her intrigued him—she touched his mind the way no other human had before. He pulled her from the wreckage and onto driftwood for others of her kind to find. Years later, she had the audacity to jump into a whirlpool he harassed her ship with and scream at him with a psychic force that stopped him short. It was then that he knew what she always suspected: she was the other half of his soul, and he was hers. He saw the deepest parts of her and loved her, and it was that love alone that tamed the legendary demon dragon. 

It was that love that was killing him. 

_Don't think of it like that. You saved me from wasting my life on hatred. You made it worthwhile._ The glowing warmth of his reassurance and adoration cleared away the pain of knowing what was soon to come. _Land's near. Keep your mate close. Save the other Crystals_.

Her great sea dragon swallowed just enough sea water to wash out his craw and let them walk out. Or shamble out. The others collapsed on the beach in their exhaustion. Faris couldn't, not when she could feel his strength fading with each breath. She turned to try to follow him. 

"Syldra!" There was so much she never thought to say, and she didn't have nearly enough time to get any of it in order. There weren't words enough for how much she loved him, how much his love kept her going when it felt like the entire world was against her, how much she needed him—

"Syldra." Lenna's voice sounded like it was coming from far off, but her warmth was close enough for Faris to feel her near her elbow. "You saved us with the last of your strength, didn't you?"

His green-eyed gaze fell on Lenna, and it seemed like he was saying something to her that Faris wasn't privy to. Faris turned to her briefly to squeeze her hand in apology, and she strode further out to sea to join him. 

"Syldra! Don't die—" _Dammit, you bloody bastard, if we could just fix_ … 

His last thought to her was love, warmth, comfort, and a thousand wordless memories bundled up together. She was barely aware of Lenna coming after her to pull her back to shore, or of anything else said.

With one last call, the other half of Faris' heart and soul died in the depths of the sea, where she couldn't reach him. With his death, she was shattered.

⁂

Spirits were low when the Light Warriors returned to the town of Walse on Notos' back, and the hour late enough that they needed rest. As Lenna had feared would happen, her lover became unresponsive and would not move. She had enlisted Butz's help to get her in the bath and had him stand outside as she washed Faris and tried to talk her out of whatever depths her mind had retreated to. 

Despair crept up Lenna like water seeping into dry plaster as the unresponsiveness continued. Part of her desperately wanted to cry, but she felt herself slipping back into the dullness that marked much of her adolescence soon after her mother died. She let the dullness lull her into complacency, at least for a moment. Another moment. Another. It was almost comforting, in its way. 

The comfortable trance returned, though for the life of her, she couldn't remember how she slipped into it. One hand settled onto Faris' head, and the other over her heart. Lenna knew she would never be able to heal the loss of a soul-bonded dragon, but she wanted more than anything to bring her lover back. 

It was the nature of water to sweep in and fill all the empty spaces. It could flow into the smallest crevices, freeze, and split boulders. It eroded mountains and washed away dust. All living things relied on it. 

What magic flowed through Lenna and filled in the cracks of her lover's psyche, she did not know. It did not feel like a true healing, either of body or soul, but it was just enough for the rhythm of Faris' breathing to change. The magic flowed out of her when her lover moved and got out of the tub with her help. 

Lenna said nothing as she helped Faris with a towel and escorted her to bed with a passing nod of thanks to Butz for his help. He left the room soundlessly, and was likely off to get drunk with Galuf. 

In bed, Faris let herself cry. Spirits, but Lenna wanted to cry with her. In the great, yawning emptiness within her, there were no tears just then. She cradled Faris' head close to her chest, letting her lover cry for as long as she wanted. No words would ever be enough to comfort her, so she said nothing.

Faris finally slept and let her go somewhere around midnight. Lenna pulled herself away to go to the bathroom and finish cleaning up. She ignored Faris' clothes on the floor for the moment and had a bath that did nothing to ease the ache of her heart. 

Once she finished and dried herself off, Lenna started plucking clothes off the floor to soak in a fresh load of water in the tub. They could dry on the flight, she supposed, though she wasn't sure where they could fly to now. Karnak felt like an eternity away. 

Things clattered on the floor tiles as Lenna picked up her lover's waistcoat and forgot that the buttons of the flap that secured the pockets slipped out of their eyes. Curious, she took the candle to make sure she didn't miss anything as she picked up whatever had fallen out. The candlelight glinted off a baroque pearl, seemed to make a handful of pretty little shells glow, and gleamed off of a too-familiar pendant and the mismatched mithril chain knotted up to keep it from escaping. 

Her stomach dropped as she bent to pick it up, though everything within her roared to ignore it. Pretending it wasn't there it would be easier, would let her live in blissful ignorance of the crime she had been unknowingly committing.

Once upon a time, there was a crystal of emerald with such remarkable clarity that it was sold to the Queen of Karnak. Its only flaw was a nearly flat-faced fissure that might have split it in two. Charmed, and knowing that her cousin had just birthed a second daughter, the Queen had the emerald split along that fissure, cut, etched at the back with the daughters' family crest, and set in matching silver-platinum sky dragon pendants. One was given to Lenna on her first birthday, the other to her older sister. Copies might have been made, but no copy could match the fissure that served as the table facets of the emeralds. 

Lenna's breath caught in her throat as she pulled out her own pendant and held it against its sister. The imperfection that manifested as an interrupted step in the table facet fit against its sister perfectly. It shouldn't, unless…

Sarisa had been lost at sea when Lenna was four years old. She had been formally pronounced dead when Lenna was nine. Lenna remembered her nursemaid sharing her worries with her father that Lenna's mutism, which arose when the reality of Sarisa's loss sank in, would become permanent. She remembered the resentment of being compared to what Sarisa might have been, though her parents genuinely tried not to compare the two. She remembered Sarisa's lisp. She remembered her parents' sorrow. She remembered her tutors saying what a shame it was, that she and Sarisa had been so close and now Lenna would have to learn to live without her sister. 

Lenna wanted to laugh, because no one would have imagined them becoming as close as they are now. She wanted to cry, because she never planned on committing incest. Her branch of the Karneis-Walas dynasty that ruled Karnak and Walse split off to _avoid_ incest. She wanted to cheer, because her sister was alive. She wanted to mourn, because she could not see how they could remain lovers.

Her heart ached from too much loss and conflicting feelings, but there was nothing that could be done now. She returned Faris' things to the pocket, secured the buttons, and washed and hung up the waistcoat to dry. She was barely aware of washing up anything else. 

When she finally sat on their bed, it was with her mind racing over all the things that had gone wrong. It kept returning to Syldra's last words to her.

_Deep down, you know who she is. She knows who you are. Human laws are meaningless and cannot know your circumstances, or what is in your heart. Do not hurt each other for meaningless things._

With a sigh, Lenna slipped under the covers and tried not to feel anything as Faris subconsciously took her back into her arms. She would have to address things later. Somehow. She just wished she knew where to start. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Background notes:
> 
> \- The bit with Lenna and King Walse is extra fun in Japanese, when she just drops all politesse and sounds very curt. I hope I conveyed that well.  
> \- The song Faris hates so much is a modified version of the Skye Boat Song. The version I'm most familiar with is the one [here](https://youtu.be/Aub059TouPU), which is bloodier than more popular versions.  
> \- Thanks to the Japanese secondary materials, I'm very passionate about Faris and Syldra's bond. It's described as a relationship of ultimate trust in the GBA Official Complete Guide. Syldra's card in the 1992 trading card set goes into a brief history of the sea dragons and that something happened between him and Faris to tame him. Multiple books describe him as an uncontrollable demon dragon before Faris came along. I have many feelings.


End file.
